Answering the call of a lonely heart
by Red Shoe Kitty
Summary: It's said that there is someone out there for everyone but what happens when the someone for you is the one person you always just miss meeting? AU
1. Chapter 1

'To your left Jack'

Tosh's voice in his ear was more distracting than usual as Jack skidded around a corner, nearly losing his balance on the wet Cardiff streets, 'whaat?'

'Left, Jack LEFT'

'Oh right, 'Jack hastily retraced his steps, moving cautiously as he entered the dark alleyway. He could just make out the shadowy figure slumped on the grimy pavement, he slowed and held his hands up, 'hey' he said in Galactic Common, 'relax, you are gonna be OK, I just need to get you off the streets to somewhere safer.'

Hesitantly, the shadowy figure spoke 'I do not understand how I got here...I am wounded...can you help me... please.'

In his head Jack cursed bloody Gwen Cooper with her "assume all aliens are evil, kill them before they kill decent Cardiff citizens" attitude. Now he was closer he could see that the creature he had been chasing was a Valerian, a gentle and peace loving peoples who had a reputation for being amazing and innovative gardeners. Many planets employed them to cultivate their public spaces and these planets were renowned for the beauty of their gardens and parks. Jack had heard it rumoured that their psi rating was so high that they could bond with the life force of a planet and work with it to help it flourish and that they were more that half plant themselves. A low moan of pain reminded him that he had more pressing problems to deal with right now.

Jack touched his ear piece, 'Owen I need you here, we have an injured riftugee needs patching up before we transfer him to the Hub'

Owen Harper came running into the alleyway at top speed almost cannoning into Jack, 'what have we got?' he panted, struggling out of the rucksack that contained his first aid kit.

Jack gestured to where the humanoid was struggling to stand, 'he's peaceful and scared and, thanks to Miss "shoot first, agonise about it later" Cooper, he's also been shot.'

Owen was rummaging through his backpack, 'sending her on that two month secondment to UNIT may have been a mistake, think they must have indoctrinated her into their way of thinking' he grunted as he hunted for the supplies he needed. 'Ah, Ok' he straightened up and approached the Valerian, holding up a roll of bandage, 'medic' he said slowly.

Jack repeated the word in Galactic Common, cautiously the Valerian pushed away from the wall upon which he had been leaning and staggered a couple of steps towards Owen before making a small keening sound of distress and collapsing towards the grubby tarmac.

Jack swore and, springing forward, caught the unconscious alien into his arms; behind him he could hear Owen yelling for Tosh to bring the SUV and he took a moment to look at young being. His hair was long and white and his skin had a vaguely greenish tinge, his thin six fingered hands were long and delicate, whilst his pointed ears gave him the look of a mythological creature; all in all he was quite the most beautiful thing Jack had seen for a very long time.

The squeal of the tyres of the SUV as Toshiko threw it around the corner bought Jack back to reality. Within seconds Owen had pulled the necessary supplies from the back of the vehicle, found a vein and was about to connect an I.V when Jack saw the label on the bag,

'Owen, No!'

Owen immediately stopped what he was doing, 'I have to get some fluid into him Jack or, alien or not, he's gonna crash.'

'He's more than half plant' explained Jack nodding at the bag of normal saline Owen was about to connect, 'salt won't do him a lot of good – use dextrose or sterile water.'

'OK' deftly Owen changed the bag and helped Jack place the Valerian in the back of the SUV, getting in with his patient as Jack moved round to the driver's door. Tosh had already scooted over to make room for him. Jack got in and reversed at speed out of the alleyway, taking ten years off the life of the bus driver he pulled out in front of and missed by inches.

After a few seconds, Tosh spoke up, 'Uh, Jack, this isn't the way to the Hub'

'I know' Jack was driving furiously the wrong way up a one way street, leaning on the horn as he did so, ' he's a Valerian, he has a lot of plant DNA; he needs to be grounded in the soil to get the strength to heal.' Tosh braced herself as Jack swung the vehicle over the pavement and into Cathays Park bringing them to a shuddering halt under a large oak tree. 'Owen! How's he doing?'

'Still out of it but holding in there' came from the back

'Good, let's get him out and on the grass,' said Jack

Complaining bitterly under his breath, Owen helped Jack manoeuvre the casualty out of the SUV and onto the scrubby grass under the tree. Tosh had bundled up her jacket and placed it under the injured being's head earning herself a grateful smile from Jack

'Now what?' asked Owen as he knelt beside his patient, holding the bag of dextrose that was still infusing.

'We wait' said Jack 'and we watch'

Silently the three Torchwood operatives stood staring at the Valerian until Jack drew a small breath, 'it's starting' he whispered. Tosh gave a soft gasp and Owen swore gently. Like a time lapse video of plants growing, the long hair of the Valerian was writhing and moving across the grass, embedding itself into the soil and wrapping itself around small twigs and bits of leaf which it seemed to absorb into itself. With a soft gasp, the Valerian dug his fingers into the grass and eyes the colour of wet leaves opened.

Jack knelt next to the confused alien and placed a comforting hand upon his forehead, vivid green eyes locked onto bright blue and a small smile appeared on the Valerian's face, mirroring the one on Jack's.

'Jack, what the hell is happening' gasped Owen as he knelt on the other side of the injured man and gently pulled apart the tunic he was wearing to get a better look at the wound. The wound which not fifteen minutes earlier had looked as if it would require surgery was already knitting itself together with what seemed to be a network of fibrous roots.

'He's using planetary life force to accelerate his healing processes' murmured Jack without removing his gaze from the young alien's face. Suddenly, in a manner reminiscent of Jack when he returned to life, the Valerian let out a pained gasp and jerked upright to be caught and held close by The Captain.

'Hey, hey' whispered Jack, 'you're OK. I have you. You are safe.'

The Valerian relaxed against Jack, 'Thank you' he said in perfect English'

'Whoa' exclaimed Owen, 'he can speak English now?'

'High psi rating' aid Jack, 'now he is healing he has the strength to learn.' He tenderly stroked the young man's hair back from his forehead

'Who are you?'

'Captain Jack Harkness. And you are?'

'Gilanthianmaxiferouskolecthniarthus of the planetary system Valeria' he gave a weak chuckle at the look on Jack's face, 'most beings call me Gil'

'I can understand why' replied Jack and the two men smiled at each other.

Tosh and Owen exchanged glances; they had never seen Jack so obviously smitten with someone on such short acquaintance. Owen cleared his throat, 'I hate to interrupt this mutual admiration society but we need to get Gil back to the Hub before he draws a crowd' he gestured to where a little girl of about five or six, clutching a ragdoll dressed like a fairy with gauzy wings, was standing observing them with fascination.

She pointed at Gil, 'is he an elf?' she lisped.

Jack nodded.

'Why is he lying down? Is he sick?

'A little bit' said Jack solemnly

The little girl looked carefully at the way Jack was holding the stricken man, 'When I'm sick, mummy cuddles me better, is that what you are doing?'

Jack smiled, 'yeah but you can't tell anyone, OK?'

The little girl smiled back and nodded solemnly,' a secret?' she asked.

'That's right sweetie.'

'Mica, Mica' a tall handsome young man was running across the grass towards the group, concern evident in every line of his body

'I gotta go' said Mica, 'bye bye mister elf man. I hope you feel better soon.' Turning she ran towards the young man, 'Uncle Ianto I wanna ice-cream.'

Jack watched the cute young man sweep the little girl into his arms and swing her high into the air making her squeal with delight before settling her onto his shoulders and heading off towards the nearby ice-cream van speaking to her urgently, clearly telling her about the importance of not talking to strangers. Jack's eyes lingered on the long legs and tight arse of the young man as he walked away, he moved with a restrained grace that Jack found highly appealing. _Two beautiful men in one day_ he mused, _what are the odds?_ Gil moved slightly and gave a small whimper of pain which drew Jack's attention away from the home grown vision of loveliness back to the gorgeous being cradled in his arms. 'C'mon' said Jack, 'can you stand?'

Gil nodded, 'I think so'

Jack helped the shaken Valerian to his feet and, holding him close to his side, escorted him to the SUV. Tosh and Owen followed slowly

'What the hell is going on?' whispered Tosh, 'he's looking at Gil as if he wants to eat him

'Maybe he's horny' offered Owen with a snort. Tosh looked sceptical. 'When is Jack ever NOT horny?' Owen said defensively.

Tosh shook her head, 'It's more than that' she said softly, 'if I didn't know better I would say that Jack has just fallen in love at first sight.'


	2. Chapter 2

Ianto Jones looked fearfully around the park; Rhiannon was going to kill him; who the hell knew that a four year old could move so bloody fast. Rhi had been insistent that spending the day with his niece and nephew would cheer him up, or as Rhiannon had charmingly put it, 'wipe that bloody miserable look off your face.' Ianto was unclear how giving up his day off to spend it in Cathays Park with a four year old and seven year old was supposed to stop the unbearable ache that had seemed lodged in his chest, right where his heart had used to be, for the past three weeks

He could pinpoint the very moment that the excoriating pain and unbearable sense of loneliness had become the defining elements of his existence. It had been as he had stood, stunned, in the doorway of the bedroom he shared with Cai; the man with whom he had lived for the past eighteen months, the man who swore that Ianto was the love of his life, the man who was, at that moment, coming copiously and enthusiastically over the face of Stuart, the young man who had moved into the flat below them only the week before. Ianto had silently packed Cai's things and, with his ex-lovers protests and desperate apologies muffled by the throbbing pain in his head, thrown him out of the flat before curling into a tight ball of misery under his duvet.

Rhiannon had come round to his flat on the fourth day, concerned that Ianto was not responding to her texts and phone calls. The siblings were extremely close and spoke or texted with each other at least once or twice a day. She had made Ianto get out of bed and have a shower and had cooked him something to eat, sitting at the table and nagging at him until he has eaten at least half of it. She had got her husband, Johnny, to come round and change the locks and taken what remained of Cai's belongings to the charity shop on the corner. Ianto was more than happy to confirm that she had been brilliant; her concern, however, had soon evaporated in the face of Ianto's continued misery and inability to move on with his life. He was trying, he really was but Cai's betrayal seemed to have encased Ianto in a sort of invisible lead suit that weighed him down, distanced him from the real world and made caring about other people's lives almost impossible for him. Eventually, in desperation, Rhiannon had suggested that he take the kids to the park for a picnic, hoping their innocent chatter would force Ianto to re-engage with real life again. Ianto was not convinced but drink, recreational drugs and one night stands hadn't helped and by now he was lonely enough and desperate enough to try anything...even babysitting.

But right at this moment he was in deep, deep, shit, Mica was missing. One minute she had been sitting beside him playing happily with the new 'woodland folk' fairy doll he had bought for her then, and god, he had only turned away for a second to watch her older brother coming down the playground's zip wire, she was gone. Terror gripped Ianto's bowels, thoughts of kidnappers, road traffic accidents or even some of the weird shit that no-one ever acknowledged, but which was so characteristic of Cardiff danced through his imagination and he yelled 'Mica, MICA!'

Her brother David who had made his way back up to the tree top platform of the zip wire for another go waved vigorously and yelled, 'Uncle Ianto, Uncle Yan' Ianto turned to face him and David pointed to a clump of trees some 200 metres to Ianto's right, 'over there.'

Hastily, Ianto turned to face in the direction David was indicating. He could see a slim Japanese girl and a short scruffy man standing looking down at a striking white haired young man who was slumped on the ground and being tenderly cradled by an older man who was wearing the most incredible World War II greatcoat. The scruffy man seemed to be holding a bag of fluid that was infusing into the white haired man and the body language of all of the observers screamed concern and anxiety. Mica stood a little to one side clasping her doll with her eyes fixed on the two men on the ground. She seemed to be talking to them. Ianto could just hear a rich American Baritone as the great-coated man spoke back to her.

Yelling 'stay here' to David, Ianto set off running towards the group screaming, 'Mica, Mica.'

As he got close to the group, he heard Mica say, 'I gotta go, bye bye mister elf man. I hope you feel better soon.' Then, catching sight of him, she ran towards Ianto yelling, 'Uncle Ianto I wanna ice-cream.'

As a relieved Ianto caught his wayward niece into his arms, he became very aware that the man in the greatcoat was watching him with an earnest and eager attention. His blue eyes were fixed on Ianto with an intensity that made him feel strange, hot and uncomfortable in his clothes. To hide his confusion Ianto swung Mica high up into the air, making her squeal excitedly. The handsome man, because he **was** handsome noted Ianto absently, smiled indulgently, sharing Ianto's pleasure at Mica's excitement. He was, Ianto thought, without doubt the most beautiful and desirable man he had ever seen, those contradictory blue eyes held both a deep sadness and loneliness together with an appraising awareness and desire that flooded Ianto's groin with reciprocal warmth, even as his heart ached for the pain in the man's gaze. To cover his embarrassment and confusion, he swung Mica onto his shoulders and turned away towards the ice-cream truck, feeling the stranger's eyes on him every step he took. With a small smile Ianto put a tiny sway into his movements, just enough to tantalise he hoped.

'You really mustn't run away like that' he said to the little girl

Mica brandished her doll, 'Princess Fairy found an elf' she said, then kicked her heels against Ianto's chest as she wriggled in distress, 'ooh that's a secret'

Ianto laughed, 'a secret eh?'

Yes, the nice man in the big coat said so.'

Ianto risked a glance back, but the attention of the nice man in the big coat was once more fixated upon the man he held in his arms. The look on his face was a strange mixture of tenderness and apprehension and even from where he was Ianto could see how the man's big hands shook as he gently swept the other's long hair away from his face. _They look like a couple_ thought Ianto. He tried to quash the spasm of disappointment that was trying to join the ache in his chest, 'don't worry' he told Mica, ' I won't tell anyone.'

Fifteen minutes later, as David and Mica contentedly slurped their way through enormous ice-creams; Ianto glanced over to the tree where the group had been. They had gone whilst he had been buying the treats for the kids and Ianto was sorry he hadn't seen them go. The dark haired man with the seductive lonely blue eyes had made a great impression on him, it hadn't just been the mutual interest somehow Ianto thought that the stranger would have understood his pain and could, just maybe, have taken it away. He thought about how he had deliberately put a little sway into his walk as he had walked away from the small group, it was the first butt flirting he had done since Cai. He gave a gloomy little smile, _it doesn't matter_ he told himself sadly, _I'm unlikely ever to see him again._


	3. Chapter 3

Jack sat in his office staring at the surface of his desk. Owen was busy in the medical bay giving Gil a thorough examination. By the time they had returned to the Hub the Valerian was completely healed but Owen had insisted on putting the recovered man through a complete physical, partly to ensure that there was no lingering damage but mainly, Jack suspected, because the doctor had an insatiable curiosity when it came to alien physiology.

What was disturbing him at the moment was the strength of his attraction to the Valerian. From the moment he had held the young man in his arms he had felt a rush of emotion that had almost subsumed all other feeling. Jack frowned, the young man who had come and taken the little girl away had done more that catch Jack's eye, he looked so beautiful but so...damaged Jack had ached to heal him; normally he would have approached him, flirted with him and left with his phone number however he had been unable to tear his attention away from Gil, and that disturbed him more than a little. He had let the broken boy walk away, walk out of his life when every fibre of his being had been screaming at him to pull him into his arms and never let him go, even though his arms were, at that moment full of injured Valerian. He had heard what Tosh had said to Owen about him falling in love with the alien at first sight but he knew better than that. It wasn't love, not even close but when he had looked into Gil's eyes it was as if a huge torrent of tenderness and compassion had engulfed him. It had left him quite shaken and he was grateful to Owen for whisking Gil away to the med bay, giving Jack some time alone to collect himself.

The door of his office burst open and furious Gwen Cooper stood in the doorway

'What the fuck did you think you were playing at?' she snarled. Jack raised an eyebrow and Gwen continued, 'you run off and leave me in a potentially hostile situation, then all of you stop responding to your comms causing me to imagine the worst and when I finally get back here I find Owen and Tosh drinking tea with an unknown alien who no-one can reassure me is not a security risk.'

Jack stood up, grateful for the opportunity to abandon his introspection and deal with a practical issue. 'It has been a long and tiring day Gwen so I really don't want to get into this with you right now so shut up and listen,' he snapped, 'Tomorrow we will sit down and have a long discussion about how trigger happy you have become recently, included in that discussion will be a long chat about just who is in charge here and what following orders means.' Gwen opened her mouth to argue but Jack just steamrollered on, 'but tonight I don't think I can trust myself to talk to you without firing you so... just go home.'

'Oh no, Jack. One of the things I learnt at UNIT was that field command errors must challenged and debated for the good of the team and...' she trailed off as Jack bought both of his hands down hard on the surface of the desk

'You shot an unarmed innocent' he yelled; Gwen took a step backwards, 'you disobeyed a direct order not to fire; the only field error made today was made by YOU agent Cooper and you are on three weeks unpaid suspension starting immediately.'

'You can't do that.' Gwen began hotly but Jack was round the desk and in her face now.

'You should go home right now' he snarled. 'because I swear to the Goddess that if the next words out of your mouth are not " I'm sorry, good night, Jack" I will retcon you back to nappies and if you come anywhere near the Hub until your suspension is over I will fucking kill you!'

'I think he means it' Owen was leaning in the doorway. Scowling Gwen turned on her heel and pushed by him.'

'Oh Gwen,' she turned as Jack called after her, 'leave your I.D and your gun with Tosh'; with a face like thunder she slammed the items down on Tosh's desk and stormed out of the Hub. Jack turned to face Owen enquiringly

'Just come to let you know that Gil is completely recovered 'said the doctor, 'no signs of long term damage, actually no signs of any damage at all. In terms of fast healing he gives you a run for your money'

Jack smiled, 'good, thanks Owen. You and Tosh take off. I'll take care of our guest for tonight'

Owen looked warily at Jack and bit his lip, 'be careful, Jack'

Jack frowned, 'thought you said he was completely healed?'

Owen stared into Jack's eyes, 'he is...that's not what I meant' he said seriously.

Jack look puzzled, 'I...I...don't understand' he stammered then seeing the look on Owen's face he gave up the pretence and shrugged, 'thanks Owen, I'll watch my step.'

Owen gave a short nod and turned away, moving too one side to allow Gil, who was barefoot and dressed in a set of borrowed scrubs, to enter the office. He looked small and lost and absolutely beautiful to Jack's eyes. 'G'night gents' said Owen but Jack and Gil didn't even see him leave.

* * *

As silence settled over the Hub, the two men stared at each other for a long time, eventually Jack spoke, 'you hungry?'

Gil shook his head, 'no, thank you I received the sustenance I require from your prompt action earlier when you grounded me to this planet. I take it you have met my species before, Captain?'

'Erm, no' Jack gestured to the sofa and the men sat down, 'I have heard of your people though and seen your work. I was on Epsilon Eridani once and visited the holy shrine of Ka'eth, it was amazing, I have never forgotten it.'

Gil ducked his head and moved closer to Jack, placing his slim hand on his thigh, 'are we really going to talk about gardening' he asked softly

Jack turned to face the young alien, and gently stroked the delicate pale skin of his face, 'I could think of other things for us to do'

Gil leant forward and placed a soft kiss on Jack's mouth, 'good'

Jack leaned into the kiss, shuddering as Gil's long fingers entangled themselves in his hair and stroked the sensitive skin on the back of his neck. At first the kiss was soft, gentle, chaste, lips moving against lips, then Jack gasped as Gil's tongue, his forked tongue, slid into his mouth and began to tangle with his own. Breathless he pulled away, 'Bifurcated tongue?' _That explains the sexy lisp_, thought Jack, happily. Gil smirked and poked his long tongue out for Jack's inspection. Jack laughed delightedly, 'Oh Gilanthianmaxiferouskolecthniarthus, the things I'm gonna have you do with that tongue'

* * *

It took them next to no time to make their way down to Jack's bunker. In the soft light of the underground room, Gil's green eyes glowed enticingly and his pale skin took on a seductive radiance. Jack could not resist sliding his hands under the loose cotton top and stroking them over the soft velvety skin of the young man's stomach. Gil's eyes fluttered shut and a quiet whine slipped from his throat, Jack couldn't prolong the moment much as he wanted to. His erection was bordering on the painful and from the feel of it, Gil was not in a much better state. He pulled the top over Gil's head and stood back to drink in the sight of the Valerian's smooth expanse of chest. Silently, Jack placed his palm, fingers splayed on Gil's chest, the contrast of his tanned skin against the greenish tinge of the alien's chest mesmerised them both for long seconds. Finally Gil spoke

'Too many clothes'

'Yeah' Jack agreed 'and too vertical'

Hurriedly the two men stripped. Jack pulled Gil into a close embrace, 'I've wanted to do this from the moment I saw you in that alleyway,' he murmured, his voice catching as Gil's six fingers wrapped themselves around his cock. With a low chuckle Gil walked them backward to the small divan that Jack called a bed and tumbled them both down. He stared down at Jack dipping his head to run his tongue over his nipples.

'Mmm, these taste good,' he crooned, 'what are they?'

Nipples' groaned Jack as Gil did something positively illegal with that clever forked tongue of his.

'hmm' Gil nuzzled against Jack's chest, 'what do they do?'

'Oh Gods,' the sensations that Gil was provoking meant that Jack was having difficulty remembering what his nipples were for, 'they're...um... decorative in males, functional in females.'

Gil ran the underside of his tongue, which was cat like in its roughness, in a quick stripe from left to right across Jack's chest making him keen loudly and arch off the bed, 'sensitive though aren't they?' Jack was struggling for breath when Gill laughed softly, bent close so that his lips were brushing Jack's and whispered, 'if you like that...you'll love this.'

Jack's eye's rolled back in his head, Gil took both their cocks in his hot grasp once more and began stroking them with a slow teasingly rhythm but then...oh sweet goddess...then something was stroking the _**inside**_ of his penis delicate feather like caresses, actually inside his urethra. Jack tried to speak, to ask Gil what was happening but the sensations from his dick were overwhelming him and short circuiting large parts of his brain. Gil smiled and briefly held up a hand, tiny tendrils like tiny roots, only slightly thicker than a human hair were sprouting from his finger ends, wafting and writhing in the low light.

'Micro tendrils' he smirked as something squirmed inside Jack's penis making him shout loudly and grasp the young man tightly. The Valerian's hair was floating around Jack's face, tracing the outlines of his features and entangling itself in his hair as if sentient and Jack surrendered himself completely to the sensations that were being created in his body as Gil held him down probing, teasing and playing him like a maestro. Jack had experienced sex with tentacled beings before, hell he had even allowed favoured lovers to dominate him, but he had never been reduce to a quivering puddle of submission quite so fast and quite so willingly.

'Want you' gasped Gil as he slid a cilia sprouting finger deep into Jack's arse.

Jack had no breath left in him so contented himself with nipping Gil's shoulder encouragingly and tilting his hips in an inviting manner. With a tiny sigh the lost alien pushed slowly into Jack, the micro tendrils that he had extruded from his cock kneading the walls of Jack's arse and massaging his prostate making him scream. It didn't take long for Jack to come, spurting hotly between them, Gil was thrusting erratically into Jack before filling him with hot spunk and collapsing onto his sweaty chest.

Somehow Jack found the strength to wrap his arms around his exhausted lover and place a soft kiss on his shoulder. Both men lay panting and smiling, eventually Jack broke the silence

'That was...amazing'

Gil gave him a tired smile, 'yeah'

Jack held him tighter, 'I may never let you go' he murmured.

Gil gave a soft chuckle, he was gently rubbing his thumb over Jack's nipples, he seemed fascinated by them, having none of his own. Jack groaned, 'what are you doing to me?'

Gil's hair was stroking Jack's face once more, 'you are so beautiful' he said, 'I have never seen anyone so beautiful but...' he bit his lip and dropped a kiss onto the corner of Jack's mouth, he seemed unable to continue.

Jack ran his hands down the young man's back , sliding his fingers along his ribs and fondling his tight buttocks, 'what is it' he said, 'don't be afraid, you can say anything you want to me, you can ask me anything and I'll answer if I can.'

Gil leant up on his elbows and looked at Jack, 'what are you?' he asked, 'you look like these people but you smell different and I...I can't read you'

Jack had felt Gil trying to touch his mind both at the park and when he had first kissed him up in the office and although he had been too blissed out whilst they had been fucking he would not have been surprised if a being with Gil's Psi rating had not attempted to link with his mind. He nuzzled at Gil's hairline

'I'm 51st century, my pheromones are more advanced than those of the people of this time, that's why I smell differently, ' he said quietly, ' and I'm an ex-time agent which is why can't you read me, the agency taught me to shield, no-one can get in.' Gil was silent for a long time, his forehead resting on Jack's chest; eventually, concerned Jack slid a finger under Gil's chin and lifted his head. Tears sparkled in the bright green eyes. 'hey, hey now' whispered Jack, 'what's the matter'

'It sounds so lonely' said Gil softly

Jack laughed, 'the people of this planet are pretty much psi-null,' he reassured Gil, 'so it's not as lonely as it sounds.'

'But what about in here?' Gil persisted, placing his hand over Jack's heart, 'who gets in here?'

Jack's sighed, his words catching in his throat, 'no-one gets in there either, trust me, Gil, I have good reasons for keeping people out. I've been doing it for a long time and I'm used to it, I prefer it.'

Gil frowned, 'you are used to being lonely? You prefer it?'

'I don't have a choice' said Jack quietly

Gil kissed him, sliding the tip of his forked tongue into Jack's mouth, twining it around Jack's. Once he had pulled a needy groan from the older man he pulled back a little and ran his fingers gently over Jack's face, 'if it's alright with you, ' he said hesitantly, bending to drop a line of kisses over Jack's heart, 'maybe, you could let me in, just for a little while.' Jack had his eyes closed, a tiny tear trembled on his lashes that Gil tenderly kissed away, 'just for a little while' he repeated as he held Jack close, rocking him towards sleep.

But when Jack dreamed, it was of the worried young man from the park.


	4. Chapter 4

It was still fairly quiet in the smart cafe bar down on the quay side, where Ianto was working whilst saving up for his next trip – his Mam had always said he was born with itchy feet and this made him a bit of a drifter, never staying in one place too long - he quite fancied Egypt for the winter, he had a mate who had a bar in Luxor and he was always inviting Ianto to go work for him. The breakfast punters had left and now there was a brief lull before the lunchtime trade wandered in. Ianto was tidying up and making sure that all the chill cabinets were fully stocked with wines, beers and soft drinks and humming quietly to himself. As he was changing the optics on the bar, someone cleared their throat behind him; 'be with you in a minute, Sir' he threw over his shoulder, giving the whisky a final polish before turning round with his professional bar tender's smile in place. A smile that slipped slightly as he made eye contact with the beautiful but sad eyed man he had seen in the park eight weeks ago and had stickily dreamed about every night since. He was vaguely aware that Cai his cheating bastard of an ex had also come into the bar and was standing at the other end of the bar eying him purposefully in an attempt to get his attention.

Ianto smiled at the beautiful man, a warmer smile than previously and asked, 'what can I get you, Sir?'

The beautiful man leant across the bar, grabbed a fistful of Ianto's dark red shirt and pulled him close, 'there's only one thing in this place I want' he growled in his enticing baritone as he captured Ianto's mouth in a soul stirring kiss, that left Ianto breathless and Cai staring open mouthed and dumbfounded.

'Ianto? Ianto? YAN!' With a guilty start, Ianto dragged himself back to reality and turned to face the irate red head who was his best friend and occasional boss Anwen Roberts. 'Christ Yan, not the bloke in the coat again? For fucks sake, get him out of your head, you'll never get back into the dating scene if you spend all your time fantasising about some bloke you only saw once well over two months ago, whose name you don't know and who you probably will never see again.'

Ianto blushed, 'I wasn't...' he began but Anwen wasn't having any of it.

'You have just spent the last fifteen minutes polishing the same section of the bar, gazing into space with a goofy smile on your face and you haven't heard a word I've said to you for at least the last twenty minutes.'

Ianto tried to defend himself, 'you don't know I was thinking about him' he said, 'for all you know I was thinking about that guy, Ioan, who kept trying to give me his number last night.'

Anwen blew out an annoyed huff, 'his name was Ifan' she pointed out coldly

Ianto shrugged, 'whatever'

Anwen moved to stand closer to him and rubbed his back, Ianto tried not flinch, he was never very comfortable with being touched, 'I'm sorry, sweetie' she said, 'guess this guy really got to you eh?'

'yeah a bit' said Ianto softly. He shook himself, 'anyway what did you want me for' he asked

Anwen looked embarrassed, 'firstly I need you to do a coffee run to that cafe down on the plas...' Ianto frowned and opened his mouth to point out that the bar had a perfectly good coffee machine of its own but Anwen held up an imperious hand and continued, '...then when you return and we have consumed our coffees and any sugary treats you feel it is appropriate to bring back with you, you can rebuild our coffee machine which has suffered a slight...accident.'

Ianto raised an eyebrow, 'an accident?'

Anwen gave a peculiar full body wriggle and looked at her feet, 'I woke up craving cappuccino,' she muttered, 'and I'd seen you do it loads of times so I thought...'

Ianto rolled his eyes, 'how many times do I have to tell you to leave everything coffee related to me?'

'Yeah, Yeah, well anyway it gave a sort of choked off groan and a hissing noise and just stopped' Anwen had already turned away to check the lunchtime float in the tills, 'bring me back something yummy, OK'

Sighing loudly, Ianto grabbed his coat from behind the bar and headed out on his coffee quest.

* * *

Gwen walked into the Hub and looked around, the place seemed deserted, Tosh's computers were all on but there was no sign of the tech genius, the blinds on the windows of Jack's office were tightly drawn which was usually a sign that Jack was "entertaining" and was not to be disturbed. With a discontented huff, she wandered over to the viewing platform and gazed down into the silent autopsy bay.

'Where the hell is everybody?' she asked the empty room. Since her return from suspension she felt that she was increasingly left out of the information loop. She knew that both Owen and Tosh had projects of their own to works but every time she asked Jack for permission to dig deeper into something that bothered her he just shot her down. She was certain that it was because Jack was becoming increasingly threatened by her new leadership skills that she had developed on her brief sabbatical with UNIT.

'Oi Cooper' Owen's voice echoed around the Hub, 'up here in the conference room'

Gwen looked up to see the medic beckoning to her from the doorway, she could vaguely make out Tosh tapping away at a key board and glancing up at the wall mounted wide screen from time to time. Gwen ran up the stairs to the board room, she paused in the doorway and stared at the strange line of symbols Tosh had displayed on the screen

'What's this then?' she asked gesturing at the wall

'Tosh's dream' said Owen smugly

Gwen raised an enquiring eyebrow in Tosh's direction; the Japanese woman blushed and shrugged, 'I've had the same dream for the last five nights' she said, 'I dream that I am in a room that is completely white and featureless, no windows, no doors. I'm not scared or worried, I'm just waiting but I don't know what for, until the gong sounds.' She paused and took a sip of her tea and continued, 'the walls darken and then these symbols appear shinning gold before they fade.'

'So this is what?' mused Gwen, 'like a nightmare?'

Owen and Tosh began speaking at the same time

'No I'm never scared...'

'I watched her sleep last night...'

Gwen picked up on what Owen was saying and frowned, 'you watched her sleep?' Although their short lived affair was long over she felt jealousy curdle in her gut.

Owen blushed slightly, 'Tosh told me what was happening so last night I went to her place and ran a polysomnogram.' Gwen looked blank and Owen sighed dramatically, 'hooked her up to an EEG to monitor brain wave activity, recorded multiple biological functions during her sleep, such as eye movement, muscle tone, heart rhythm and breathing.'

'And?' Gwen asked

Owen ran his hands through his hair in frustration, 'nothing. No night terrors, no muscle spasms or cramps. Except at 2.37 and 4.45 when her brain wave activity went crazy and her blood pressure spiked to dangerous levels.'

Tosh broke in, 'I had the dream twice last night, Owen woke me up both times my readings spiked and I wrote down what I could remember,' she gestured at the monitor on the wall which was showing a short line of strange symbols wihch made no sense to Gwen

That was the first time' said Tosh, 'and this...' she tapped on the keyboard, 'was the second'

Gwen looked back at the screen

'What does it mean?' she asked

'Owen and Tosh exchanged irritated glances, 'If we knew that, Cooper, ' said Owen carefully, 'we would be talking things over with Jack instead of sweating it out here on our own'

Tosh broke in, 'the last message is the longest I have ever been given, I'm hoping that the translator programme we scavenged from that down Du-Ab survey ship last month might be able to cast some light – that's what we're doing now, trying to run the programme but it's having trouble recognising my drawings of the symbols and...' she trailed off since Gwen was clearly not listening to a word she was saying

Gwen put her hands on her hips, only one piece of information had penetrated, 'yes, and where IS Jack?' she asked snarkily, 'out with his plant boy again, when he should be here providing us leadership and sharing his insights into this problem?'

'Oh for fucks sake, Cooper' snapped Owen, 'can't you reign in your ambition for one second? We get it, you want to replace Jack as head of Torchwood Cardiff but we have more important things to worry about at the moment'

Tosh turned in her seat to add her remonstrations but suddenly stiffened, giving a small mew of distress before her eyes rolled back into her head and she slumped to the floor.

'TOSH!' Owen was round the large conference table and at his fallen colleague's side in an instant, supporting her head and feeling for her pulse. Toshiko's eyes sprang open and her lips moved silently for a second or two, then –

_**'Shaa- banah grith wertim sha-ah'**_

Gwen stood staring in horror, Owen kicked her, none too gently, 'start recording this' he yelled

Gwen fumbled for her mobile and selected the app for voice recording, Tosh spoke once more, '_**Shaa- banah grith wertim sha-ah. Ma'at Ma'na'bereth gerit-ne –ha ne –he NE-HA**_' Tosh almost screamed the final word before going limp.

Owen pulled his phone out, hitting speed dial 1, 'Jack, get back here, something's happening to Tosh'

* * *

Jack and Gil were taking advantage of the unseasonal spring sunshine and were sipping their coffees at an outside table at their favourite cafe on the plas. They were sitting in a comfortable silence, Jack was resting his leg against Gil's thigh and Gill was holding Jack's wrist loosely in the circle of his long fingers. He had surreptitiously extruded some micro-tendrils and was tracing Valerian love symbols onto Jack's palm. Jack was leaning on Gil's shoulder, his head tilted back, eyes closed, luxuriating in the warmth on his face.

'This is nice' murmured Gil

'Mmm?'

'Just sitting here, being with you, like an ordinary couple.'

Jack twisted to look at his lover, 'Gil' he said warningly, 'don't...please.'

'I'm not, honestly, Jack' protested Gil, 'I just wish you would help me understand why you feel you have to push everyone who wants to love you away.'

Jack sighed, 'you're not gonna let this go are you?' he said wearily. Gil placed a gentle kiss in the centre of Jack's palm and shook his head.

'OK' Jack threaded their fingers together and held on tight. He took a deep breath, 'you have heard of The Doctor, last of the Timelords, yeah?' Gil nodded, his eyes fastened on Jack's face, not daring to speak in case it shook Jack from his disclosures, 'well, I travelled with him for a while. Whilst I was with him I was accidentally exposed to the time vortex at the heart of his Tardis, and now I can't die; well that's not quite true, I can die but I don't stay dead' he gave a bitter laugh, 'I'm immortal. Now, whenever I let someone in, it always pans out the same, they love me and I...oh gods...I start to love them back...so much, but then they age and I don't and either they start to hate me or they start to fear me or they die and, whichever it is, I end up alone and broken.'

'Oh Jack' Gil's strange semi-sentient hair was stroking Jack's face lovingly

Jack took a deep shuddering breath, 'After the fifth or sixth time it happens you start to think that it's better not to risk the hurt, y'know? It's easier being lonely than being left behind or hated, just take what pleasure you can and don't invest anything of yourself or expect anything for yourself'

'It seems like a sad way to live' said Gil. Jack shrugged, his eyes focused on the horizon, his grip on Gil's hand was tighter than ever, the only indication of the emotional turmoil he was experiencing. Gill lifted their joined hands and placed soft kisses on their entwined fingers until Jack's grip relaxed slightly. 'If you could fix it...'

'I can't' interrupted Jack harshly, 'I'm a fixed point in time, even The Doctor can't fix me, he told me so'

'…but if you could, ' insisted Gil, 'what would you do, make the one you love immortal or surrender your immortality and become mortal again?'

Jack didn't hesitate, 'become mortal,' he sighed, 'the thought of living a lifetime and ageing with someone I love – I can't think of anything more fulfilling or more desirable.'

Gil looked troubled for a second or two but then his face cleared and he seemed to have come to some kind of decision, 'Jack, I...'

Jack held his hand up as his phone rang, glancing at the caller ID he put the phone on speaker as he answered, 'Owen, hi'

'Jack, get back here, something's happening to Tosh'

Gil was already on his feet and moving across the plas towards the invisible lift, Jack close behind him, still speaking on his phone, 'what's going on, Owen'

'Just get back here' yelled Owen and he hung up.

Jack picked up his pace and cannoned hard into a tall slim body, he grasped a pair of strong shoulders to steady himself and found himself face to face and chest to chest with the gorgeous boy from the park a couple of months earlier. Despite the importance of Owen's call, Jack could feel a wide delighted smile spreading itself across his face, and his grip tightened unconsciously.

'You!'

The young man had a smile of equal brilliance on his pale features

'You!'

The two men stood gazing at each other, grinning inanely until the moment was broken by Gil yelling Jack's name urgently across the plas as he waited impatiently for him by the invisible lift

Jack pulled a face, 'I gotta go'

The boy nodded dumbly, turning to watch as Jack sprinted away, smiling as he paused briefly to turn around and yell, 'come to the plas again, any time, I'll find you.' Then with a swirl of his ridiculously over dramatic and fatally attractive coat, he was off and running as if his life depended upon it.

Ianto stood watching as the sad eyed stranger raced across the plas. His heart was pounding in his chest and he was breathing hard as if it had been he who had been running. He was further shocked to find that the brief physical contact they had shared had left him aching and hard. He blinked, trying to get a grip on his raging emotions; he couldn't lose this man again. Desperately he called out, his voice echoing around the plas.

'Who are you? How will you find me?'

But the beautiful sad eyed man had disappeared.


	5. Chapter 5

Jack and Gil ran into the Hub and skidded to a halt looking around in confusion,

'Where is everyone?' Jack asked unknowingly echoing Gwen from earlier.

'Jack, Gil, boardroom now' Gwen's voice rang commandingly through the base. The two men looked at each other and rolled their eyes before heading up the stairs.

When they entered Tosh was seated on the floor, supported against Owen's chest. Owen was helping her sip from a cup of water, her hands shaking too much to trust her to drink on her own. Jack was at her side in a heartbeat

'Toshiko, are you OK?' he knelt and gently brushed her hair away from her face, 'what happened?'

Gil, on the other hand, was gazing, transfixed, at the symbols on the screen, 'where did you see these' he demanded with an authority which was at odds with his usual polite and mild demeanour. Tosh gazed at him in confusion, confusion which turned to fear as Gil strode across the room , tangled his hands in her tee-shirt and hauled her to her feet; 'WHERE DID YOU SEE THESE SYMBOLS?' he screamed into her face.

Owen was on his feet, pulling Tosh back into his arms and yelling, 'hey! Back off.' Jack also lent his aid by grabbing Gill from behind and holding him tightly against his chest.

'Gil? This isn't like you' said Jack soothingly, 'what has gotten into you?'

Gil shook himself free from Jack's grasp and took another step towards the shaken Tosh, 'where did you see these' he asked again, a bit more calmly

'In a dream' whispered Tosh

'When she collapsed she was speaking in a strange language too' piped up Gwen helpfully, holding up her mobile and pressing play despite the united mental will of the three Torchwood members. Tosh's voice echoed tinnily from the phone

'Shaa- banah grith wertim sha-ah' Gil tensed in Jack's arms 'Shaa- banah grith wertim sha-ah. Ma'at Ma'na'bereth gerit-ne –ha ne –he NE-HE'

The recoding ended and the room seemed suddenly very quiet, eventually Jack cleared his throat commandingly, 'Owen take Tosh down to the med bay and run a full physical on her. Gil, with me, I think we have something to talk about don't you?'

Gwen huffed, 'what about me?'

Jack was already out of the door, 'find something to do' he snapped, 'you are always telling me how much you want more autonomy, now show me that's true.'

* * *

Jack stood aside and ushered Gil into his office, gesturing him to sit in the chair in front of the desk. Jack sat in his own office chair, trying not to think about what he and Gil had done in that self same chair only two hours earlier; and looked enquiringly at his lover. 'Strictly speaking y'know' he began mildly, 'terrifying the staff is my job.'

Gil looked penitent, 'I'm sorry, I thought I recognised some of those symbols'

Jack frowned, 'and that made you think it was OK to all Incredible Hulk on my tech specialist?'

'I will apologise to her' promised Gil

'That's not quite the point' said Jack, 'I want to know what it was about those symbols you recognised and why they angered you so much.'

Gil shook his head, 'you're wrong, Jack. I didn't recognise anything, I thought I did at first but I was wrong '

Jack raised a sceptical eyebrow, 'I don't believe you. I was holding you when Gwen played that recording, it made you tense up, you knew that language, you knew what Tosh was saying.'

Gil's green eyes filled with tears, 'Jack, I swear to you I don't know anything, not about the symbols or about the words that Tosh spoke'

'So you just attacked Tosh for no good reason?'

Gil wiped his eyes with the heel of his hands, 'I was so worried about her I wasn't thinking properly, I may have expressed that concern inappropriately...I'm still learning the social norms of this planet' he stood and moved round the desk to sit on Jack's lap, he buried his head in the crook of Jack's neck, 'I messed up, are you going to punish me?'

Jack groaned, 'Gil, no. This isn't the time' Ignoring him, Gil slid his tongue across Jack's neck and into his ear making him squirm. His long white hair was floating around his head and a glittery silver pollen like substance seemed to be expelled from the end of each strand, forming a small cloud of shimmering dust motes around the two men. He insinuated his fingers inside Jack's shirt sweeping his digital micro-tendrils over Jack's nipples. Jack made a weak effort to remove the teasing hand, moaning softly as Gil's other hand reached between them to rub against his growing erection.

'You believe me, don't you Jack' murmured Gil biting gently on Jack's ear, 'I really don't have any idea what those messages are about'

'I...uh' Jack felt as if his brain was being turned to mush, 'Wha...what are you doing to me?'

Gil kissed him, grazing his teeth across Jack's lower lip, 'Nothing bad, I promise. Don't fight me, my love, trust me, surrender to the affection you feel for me.' He smiled as Jack's eyes fluttered closed. Gil leant in close and whispered in Jack's ear, 'Let your team work on the symbols and the message for today. It's unlikely they will come up with anything useful and tomorrow we can go to the University library; check out their texts on ancient languages. Some of those symbols could have been ancient Sumerian or Egyptian don't you think?'

'Yeah' mumbled Jack, his head rolling back on his neck, 'Sumerian'

Gil tipped Jack's head so that it rested comfortably on his shoulder, 'If you are good,' he breathed gently into Jack's ear, 'when we are at the library, I'll let you fuck me in the stacks.' He grinned broadly as he felt Jack smile happily against his neck.

* * *

Ianto walked back into the bar with a wide smile on his face and a spring in his step that had been noticeably absent for a good few months

'aye, aye' Anwen leant on the bar, reaching eagerly for the coffee and pastries that Ianto held out to her, 'someone looks happy, have you copped off?'

Ianto gave a shy smile, 'I saw him again' he admitted

'Brilliant!' sputtered Anwen spraying crumbs all over the bar much to Ianto's discomfort, 'so...tell me everything, what did he say? What did you say? When are you seeing him again?'

Ianto blushed, 'we..er...we didn't make any firm arrangements' he admitted, 'he..erm..he had to go so...'

Anwen sighed dramatically, 'so what actually happened?

'He literally ran into me on the plas as I was heading to the coffee shop' said Ianto with a goofy smile, 'he almost knocked me over, 'he held me. God, his hands are so warm, Anwen'

'Ok, warm hands; always a bonus' agreed Anwen, 'is that it?'

Ianto's smile grew even wider, 'he remembered me from the park'

'Good, then what?'

'Then he left' said Ianto

Anwen took a deep steadying breath before saying carefully, 'so he ran into you, said hello and then left? It's hardly Tristan and Isolde is it?'

'He told me to go back to the plas, he told me he'd find me' retorted Ianto

Anwen rolled her eyes, 'and so you are going to hang around on the plas in case this man – whose name you still don't know, incidentally, decides to give you the time of day? Are you mad, Yan'

Ianto looked down at the dregs of his coffee, 'I can't explain it, Anwen. It's like...Have you read Plato's _Symposium_?'

Anwen snorted, sometime Ianto forgot that not everyone had a masters degree in classical studies 'just for a laugh, let's pretend I haven't'

Ianto smiled, 'In _The Symposium_, Plato has Aristophanes, the playwright, present a story about soul mates. Aristophanes states that humans originally had four arms, four legs, and a single head made of two faces. These humans had great strength and threatened to conquer the gods so Zeus,as a punishment, split the humans in half, creating creatures with one head, two arms and legs and half a soul.'

Anwen yawned widely, 'is this going anywhere?' she asked sarcastically, reaching for another pastry.

'Be patient' Ianto admonished, 'anyway each human would forever long for his/her other half; the other half of his/her soul. It was said that when the two find each other, there is an unspoken understanding of one another, that they feel unified and would lay with each other in unity and would know no greater joy.'

Anwen put her coffee down and looked at her friend, 'and this man...you think...what the hell do you think Ianto ?'

'I dunno' Ianto tried to shrug unconcernedly but didn't quite pull it off. 'I just know that when I look at him it's like I'm a whole person for the first time ever. All the drifting and travelling and it's like I've found something I didn't even know I was looking for… and it feels like home'

'OK – so you will be spending your day off tomorrow hanging around on the plas will you?

'Too fucking right' said Ianto, then his face fell, 'shit, I promised to have lunch with Idris. I can't blow him off...' Anwen sniggered and Ianto ignored her, 'I can't blow him off; we have cancelled four times already.'

'So what are you going to do?' asked Anwen

* * *

Owen pulled his latex gloves off with a decisive snap and tossed them vaguely in the direction of the bin, 'You're fine' he told Toshiko

Tosh hopped down from the examination couch/autopsy table, 'don't sound so disappointed' she told the grumpy medic.

Owen shrugged, 'If it had been physical, even a brain tumour, I could have worked out how to treat it,' he pointed out, 'but this implies that someone or something has the capability to walk into your head whenever they want to and leave no trace behind them. Forgive me, if I find that more than a little disturbing.'

'So what are you saying to me' asked Tosh as they emerged from the medical bay into the Hub itself, 'this is some kind of intergalactic telepathic text message?'

'Possibly' said Owen, 'and who do we know on this planet with the psychic abilities to receive such a message' his eyes drifted up to Jack's office'

'Gil?' asked Tosh on a exhalation, 'no!'

Owen pulled a face, 'he seemed pretty upset' he pointed out

'Hmm' Tosh was non committal.

Gwen wandered up to join them clasping a coffee, 'everything OK?'

Owen and Tosh made eye contact and came to an unspoken decision not to tell Gwen about their suspicions regarding Gil; they knew she would make it an excuse to challenge Jack's leadership again. Tosh smiled, 'I'm fine, thanks Gwen. How about you, did you find anything?'

Gwen shook her head despondently, 'No. The translation programme is still running but it's making some very unhappy noises from time to time when it gets to various symbols. I've tried telling it to skip them and move on but it seems to be struggling to me. I think you need to look at it, Tosh'

The three of them looked up as the door to Jack's office opened and a happy and dishevelled Jack appeared on the walkway.

Owen, how is Tosh' he demanded

Own smiled at Toshiko, 'she's fine, no after effects, no sign of alien infestation' he reported

Jack slid down the stair rail and pulled Tosh into a hug, 'good, I don't like having my Toshiko upset.' He turned to Gwen 'well?' he enquired, 'have you anything useful to share?'

Gwen crossed her arms, 'I've been monitoring the Du-Ab translation programme' she said defensively

Jack raise an eyebrow, 'and…?'

'Nothing yet'

'OK' Jack clapped his hands, 'go home, rest and recuperate and everyone back here by 9.30 tomorrow morning with new ideas about how to tackle this. Some of those symbols look as if they are ancient Sumerian to me so I'll be heading off to the University library to their archaeology department but I'll want to hear what investigation strategies you have come up with before I go'

Gwen frowned, 'Go Home?' she asked incredulously, 'what we are just giving up are we? What about poor Tosh?'

Owen spoke up, 'poor Tosh' he said sarcastically making air quotes with his fingers, 'is fine. She is coming home with me tonight so that I can monitor her'

Tosh scowled, 'Is she?'

Owen blushed, 'well...' he stumbled, '...I thought'

Tosh took pity on him, 'thanks Owen' she said linking her arm with his.

'Good' Jack was in full command mode, 'that's settled then – everyone GO!' he turned and headed back into his office, closing the door behind him but not before Gil's low seductive tones were heard asking some kind of question that made Jack chuckle lewdly.

Gwen was furious, 'I don't like this' she snarled, 'Jack is almost in a thrall to Gil and we know no more about him now than we did when we picked up in that alley way; and look at how he behaved towards Tosh earlier'

'He was scared for me and over reacted' said Tosh, 'that's all'

Gwen rolled her eyes, 'he attacked you Tosh! Anyone else and they would have been in the vaults in two seconds flat; instead plant boy gets dragged off to Jack's office, none of us see either of them for the next two hours until Jack appears with that well shagged look that he carries off so well and just tells us to drop it for the rest of the day? Am I the only one that can see something wrong with this picture?'

Owen turned on her, 'why does this bend you so out of shape, Cooper? Jack trusts Gil; you have always had faith in his judgement in the past. OK, Gil was out of line earlier but in all the weeks he has been here he has never once put any of us in danger. He's saved our arses on weevil hunts on more than one occasion, when it would have been easy for him to just step back Are you really suspicious of Gil's motives or is there some other reason?'

Just at that moment, Jack's laugh rang throughout the hub and Gwen's eyes drifted up to the closed office door. Tosh who was still standing next to Owen looked at the expression on her face and gasped.

'You're jealous' she whispered, 'jealous of Gil because he makes Jack happy.'

'That's total crap' snapped Gwen

'No' said Owen slowly, 'I recognise that look, seen it on the faces of women who are interested in me. You want him. That's what all this constant challenging of Jack's authority is about isn't it?' he laughed, 'god you have written a scenario in your head like some teenager, you think this is gonna end with him shagging you don't you?'

Gwen was bright red, 'that is such bullshit' she picked up her jacket and slung it over her shoulders and stormed out of the Hub.

'This is not good' murmured Tosh as she watched her colleague leave, 'she'll cause trouble if she can. Jack and Gil better watch their step.'


	6. Chapter 6

9 a.m. the next morning found Gwen Cooper sitting on the steps in Roald Dahl Plas staring out over the water. Although the sun was up, there was a cool breeze off the bay and Gwen was grateful for the warmth leaching from her coffee cup into her hands. Owen's comments from the night before had disturbed her greatly; she had spent an agitated night trying to work out if he was right and had only fallen into a restless sleep around 4 a.m. Even then, her dreams had been vivid and erotic, centring mainly on Jack's hands and all the dirty clever things he could do with them. She had woken up exhausted and aching. _Fuck _she thought to herself, _I think Owen is right, I want Jack, that is what all the challenging him has been about. I've been trying to make him notice me because…because I love him and he responds to me because he wants me too. It's all so obvious to me now, I will dump Rhys and once Jack knows that I am available we can be together._

'He's not for you' said an unwelcome voice

Gwen squinted up against the bright sunlight, 'Gil?'

'He is not for you' repeated the alien, 'and he will never love you as you want him to.'

'Because he is in love with you?' asked Gwen harshly

Gill smiled sadly, 'no, he is not in love with me. He is not for me, either. Despite what you think, you are not what he wants or what he needs'

Gwen scowled, 'you don't know what I think' she stated, 'you've been here….what…3 months….you don't know me at all'

GI sat down beside her and sighed, 'my people are great gardeners,' he began, 'famous throughout the galaxy for our skill at cultivation. Some people say that it is because our psychic skills are so advanced, and that certainly is true.' Gwen frowned at him, not entirely sure where the conversation was going. Gill was staring out across the bay now as if staring across time itself, his hands clasped tightly together. 'The people on this planet, their minds are so open, for someone like me it's impossible not to hear them, even when I would rather not. They are constantly projecting a stream of arousal or hate or vitriol or distress, it hurts, it's exhausting' He gave a bitter laugh and scuffed the pavement with the toe of his boot. 'The thing is' he continued, 'people's minds are a lot like gardens once you start to look at them properly. Tosh, for example, her mind is like a well-established cottage garden; a riot of different facts and snippets of information but everything complements everything else and it all fits and it is a beautiful and peaceful place. Owen's mind is more like a formal country house parkland; rigidly regulated and everything in its place, the image of control over riding everything else, there are dark potting sheds where secrets lurk, but they are carefully hidden so as not to spoil the overall image. However, you, Gwen Cooper, your mind is rank and overgrown with the brambles of your own selfish desires and the nettles of your ego. It is a dank and unpleasant place for me…and for you'

'And Jack?' asked Gwen, her curiosity over riding her dislike of the alien beside her

Gil turned to face her and his green eyes seemed huge with sympathy, 'Jack's mind is behind a wall so high and so strong, even I could barely breech it.'

Gwen was about to retort when her mobile phone buzzed, it was Jack.

'You two planning on joining the rest of us any time soon, or are you gonna sit there all day?'

Gwen and Gil looked up to where a CCTV camera was wagging at them coquettishly.

Gwen smiled, 'On our way, Jack' She jumped to her feet, shoved her phone in the pocket of her Jacket and strode off toward the Tourist Office without a glance at Gil.

* * *

When Gwen and Gil entered the boardroom, the tabletop was already covered in papers. To Gwen's extreme annoyance Gil slid smoothly into the vacant chair next to Jack; leaving her no choice but to sit at the end of the table next to Tosh. The knowing smirk on Owen's face did nothing to cool her temper either.

'Right,' said Jack, who was obviously in full command mode, 'now that Ms Cooper has decided to grace us with her, undoubtedly essential, presence I imagine we can begin, Tosh – what have you got for me?'

Tosh gestured at the papers scattered across the table, 'The translation program is still running 'she said, 'I have managed to tweak the programme so that when it encounters a symbol that it is unfamiliar with, it prints it out and moves on. That's what all this is; each of these sheets has a copy of a symbol that the programme does not recognise on it. I was thinking about what you said yesterday, Jack, about trying the ancient history section of the university library so I have pulled out the ones we are struggling with for you to take with you.'

Jack beamed at her, 'excellent Tosh, thanks. Owen?'

The medic shifted uncomfortably, ' you are not gonna like this, boss' he said, 'I don't like it myself but…it occurred to me that the meaning to the message may be lurking somewhere in Tosh's sub-conscious. She is clearly receptive to whatever is being used to send the message and maybe there in more information in her head if only we could get at it'

Jack looked sombre, 'I think I know where this is going and you are right, I don't like it'

Gwen spoke up 'Where is it going?'

Tosh looked at her, 'I think Owen might be about to suggest that we use the mind probe on me' she said softly.

Gwen stood up, she was furious, 'NO! Jack you said we weren't to use that again - not after what happened last time'

'Hey' Jack was equally outraged, 'that wasn't my fault, apparently that species has extremely high blood pressure'

'Even so, I can't believe you are considering this' retorted Gwen

'Hey' interjected Owen, 'I resent the fact that you are implying that I would put Tosh at risk. I've reviewed the protocol for using the mind probe and I'm confident I could keep her safe if we...'

'I think it's my decision to make, Gwen' said Toshiko softly but her voice was lost in the loud exchange going on between Jack and the other two members of the team.

Suddenly a loud piercing whistle rang out and four shocked faces turned to look at Gil, 'thank you' he said, 'now, firstly Gwen, Jack never said that he was even considering Owen's idea so get off your high horse and shut up and secondly it's Toshiko's call not Owen's, not Jack's and most definitely not yours; and finally, if Tosh gives her consent, I can easily look into her mind and if there is anything there she is unaware of I can find it.'

Jack smiled at him tenderly and stroked his face, 'you can do that?'

Gil leaned into Jack's touch, 'hello, psi-skilled alien here – of course I can and I can do it without harming Tosh in any way, although...if it's OK...I'd rather make it a last resort.'

Jack's hand was still caressing his cheek, 'I understand' he said, he looked around the table, 'most psi-skilled races have serious moral and ethical problems with deliberately probing the minds of other races, especially psi-null races such as humans. If we do this...'he looked enquiringly at Tosh who gave a short nod of affirmation, '...we do it when all other sources of information have crashed.'

'Well. Ok then' Owen seemed content and Tosh smiled her acquiescence; Gwen on the other hand still looked unhappy.

'So what's the plan then' she asked

Jack stood up, 'Owen you review your mind probe protocols one more time, just in case we need them. Tosh, you keep working on the translation, Gwen you can monitor the rift since you haven't come up with anything helpful of your own.'

Gwen scowled, 'and what are you going to be doing?'

Jack gathered up the sheets of paper from the table and slid them into a document folder then he grasped Gil's hand, 'we,' he said, 'are off to join the library.'

* * *

Idris Roberts looked affectionately at his friend Ianto Jones as the young man jumped up to sit on the countertop of the withdrawals desk in the library of Cardiff University.

'Hey' Idris looked at his friend critically; he had been more worried about him after Cai's departure than he had let him see, 'you are looking good, Yan'

Ianto smiled and slid over the counter to pull Idris into a warm hug, 'you too' he said, then he pulled back and looked at Idris searchingly, 'you look very good,' he said slowly, 'something good has happened hasn't it.'

Idris grinned, he and Ianto had been friends since they were six years old, they couldn't hide anything from each other. He nodded, 'David has asked me to marry him' he said

Ianto pulled him back into his arms, 'oh man, that's brilliant' he said sincerely, 'when? How?'

'Last night, it was our one year anniversary, we went to that posh French place, y'know, the one up by the monument,' Ianto nodded he and Cai had liked that place too, Idris saw the expression on his face and took hold of his hand, 'anyway, he was gonna do it all cheesy, in the champagne or in the dessert but he got over excited and when the waiter asked what we wanted he just pulled out the ring and said "I want him...forever"'

Ianto laughed 'Oh my god'

Idris punched his arm gently, 'hey I was in floods' he said, 'we haven't set a date yet but I want you as my best man.' He looked anxiously into Ianto's face, 'you will be around Yan, won't you?'

Ianto frowned 'of course, why would you think I won't be'

Idris gave an uncomfortable squirm, 'I know that look. You are getting ready to move on again.'

Ianto sighed, Idris knew him far too well, had loved him more and longer than anyone else who had ever been in his life, their friendship had survived their brief affair and the occasional one night stands they shared. He had always been there for Ianto; the day he had thrown Cai out, Idris had turned up at his door, unexpected and uninvited impelled to seek his friend out by that strange prescience that exists between the closest of friends or the most passionate of lovers. Feeding Ianto with pizza, beer and vodka, he had held him as he wept and then taken him to bed, murmuring words of love as Ianto had pounded into him, sobbing and biting as he came. He had probably saved Ianto's life that night. _Oh God_, Ianto's blood suddenly ran cold_, I fucked Idris the night Cai left and he was already with David then; and now he wants to marry him. _

Idris smiled, 'I told David about the night Cai left' he said reassuringly, he's OK, he understands – it's what good friends do – help with the pain'

Ianto gave him a mock scowl 'I've told you about reading my mind before' he said

Idris laughed, 'now you know how annoying it is when you do that to me, but no changing the subject – are you thinking of leaving or not?'

Ianto released Idris and plonked himself down on a convenient chair, 'I was' he said softly but then about 10 weeks ago I saw this man in Cathays Park...'

Idris sat spellbound as Ianto described the beautiful sad-eyed man he had met only twice and whose name he still did not know. When Ianto finished speaking Idris smiled, 'this reminds me Plato's _Symposium_'

Ianto laughed, 'thank you ' he said, 'Anwen didn't know what I was on about.'

'Pft, Anwen' Idris was dismissive, 'what does she know?'

'She thinks I'm mad for pinning my hopes on this guy.'

Idris swung himself from side to side on his chair, completely ignoring the line of students queuing patiently to check out books,'So you gonna hang out on the Plas like a rent boy just waiting for this gorgeous dude to come find you or what' he broke off to glare at a student who was tapping his books on the counter, 'just a sec, Yan.' Idris stood 'Mrs Davies!' a middle aged woman appeared from the stacks where she had been reshelving books, 'could you cover the desk, please.' He returned his attention to Ianto as his colleague began to deal with the waiting line, 'how sure are you he'll turn up again?'

'I dunno, Id' Ianto was staring at the floor, 'I just know I have to try. If this man isn't in my life it won't be because I made no effort. I think with him I stand a chance of having something like you have with David.'

'Oh Yan' Idris pulled him to his feet and into another hug, 'that's all I want for you' He frowned as Ianto suddenly stiffened, Idris hurriedly let him go, 'sorry, sorry' he said, 'I've been all touchy feely and I know how uncomfortable that makes you.'

Ianto was staring over Idris' shoulder at the CCTV monitors just below the counter, 'it's him'

'What?'

Ianto pointed at the grainy image of a handsome man pouring over a large tome, 'that's him' he gasped, 'he's here, in the library. He grabbed hold of Idris' arm and dragged him closer to the monitors, 'what floor is that? Where is he'

Idris pulled his arm out of Ianto iron grip, 'Yan calm down you are hurting me,' he squinted at the screen, 'that's...ancient history and archaeology' he said, ' level five'

'All riiight'

Ianto leapt stylishly over the counter earning himself a round of impressed applause from the watching students. He sprinted towards the lifts.

Idris yelled after him 'YAN!' Mrs Davies gave a loud tut at such blatant disregard for library protocol but Idris ignored her and raised his voice once more, 'Yan, the lifts are out, use the stairs' he gestured to his right, grinning broadly as Ianto swerved and disappeared into the stairwell.


	7. Chapter 7

Jack was having the time of his life; libraries came only just below offices in his list of erotic locations. At a large table in a secluded corner of the deserted floor, he was searching through various ancient language books, which Gil was pulling from the shelves. Every so often Jack would find a glyph that corresponded with one of the symbols Tosh had printed out for them and would pull Gill onto his lap for a celebratory snogging session before texting their new findings to the tech expert back at the Hub.

Jack leant back in his seat, photographed the last remaining pictograph and it's meaning and sent it to Tosh. He reached out and caught hold of Gil's wrist as the Valerian reached across the table to collect the edition of "Gardner's Egyptian Grammar" that Jack had just slammed shut.

'I believe we are done here' he said, smiling up into Gil's green eyes.

'I agree' replied Gil, 'you've done some good work here today, Jack.'

'Hmm' Jack placed a kiss in Gil's palm that had only a hint of tongue to tantalise, 'I also believe that I was promised a reward if I did well'

Gil's seemed to be having difficulty catching his breath, as Jack's kisses travelled across his palm and lingered at his wrist, before sucking his fingers into the warm moist cavern of his mouth. 'As I recall,' murmured Gil, 'I said that if you were good, I'd let you fuck me. Have you been good, Jack?'

Jack turned in his seat and put his hands on Gil's arse, kneading and caressing, his mouth mumbled at the aliens crotch, 'if you let me fuck you, I promise I will be,' his exhalation hot and humid against Gil's tumescent cock.

Six long fingers tangled in the soft brown hair as Jack manoeuvred their bodies to allow Gil to perch on the table in front of him, his legs wide. With teasing fingers, Jack eased the buttons of Gil's jeans open and a loud moan echoed around the stacks as he once more placed his mouth on the straining black cotton briefs that were revealed as he pushed the denim aside. He insinuated his fingers under Gil's underwear brushing against the heated flesh and gently teasing the weeping head of hard cock inside.

With a small whimper, Gil leant back on his elbows, allowing Jack to slide his hips closer to the edge of the table. 'Please Jack, please' he released a shrill keening cry as, using only his mouth and his teeth Jack peeled the Valerian's pants down and gently sucked the extreme tip of the erection that was exposed to his hungry gaze.

'So pretty' whispered Jack, holding Gil's hips still as the alien was thrusting impatiently toward his mouth. With a small chuckle Jack leant in and ran his tongue around the sensitive skin between the root of Gil's penis and his balls. 'mmm, you taste so good' he nuzzled in closer, 'you smell so good too' he purred. Against his cheek he could feel the muscles of Gil's thighs trembling with tension.

'Jack, I'm begging you' it was barely a breath

Without warning jack swallowed Gil to the root and a piercing cry of intense pleasure echoed around the fifth floor.

* * *

Ianto was racing up the stairs his heart was pounding in his chest; he wasn't sure whether that was because of the unaccustomed exercise or because in just a few minutes he would finally get to talk to the man who had haunted his thoughts from the moment he laid eyes on him. By the third floor Ianto was slowing noticeably; _do_ _not want to meet him bright red, sweaty and struggling for breath_ he thought to himself wryly, _so not a good look._ He forced himself to slow to a walk and tried to control his breathing. He thought about the first time he saw the guy, under the trees in Cathays Park, holding the man with the strange white hair in his arms and stroking his face with those large yet curiously tender hands. _I can't wait to feel those hands on my body_, he smiled as he recalled the strength and warmth of those hands when they had briefly held each other on the Plas. His step slowed even more as Ianto recalled those bright blue eyes and how their sadness had melted when they fixed on his face, and those lips that looked so kissable...oh god he had it bad and he didn't even know the man's name.

As he pushed open the door to the fifth floor, the first thing that struck Ianto was how deserted the place was; clearly the study of ancient civilisations was not the most popular field at the University of Cardiff. Ianto walked quietly through the room glancing to the left and the right as he passed the long lines of shelving. He was almost at the back of the room when he heard it; the slap of flesh on flesh counterpointed against a rhythm of harsh desperate panting. Rounding the corner of the last block of shelving Ianto froze, stunned at the sight before him.

The frail looking, white haired man from the park was spread eagled against one of the large bookshelves, his forehead rested against the edge of one of the shelves and his outstretched hands clutched desperately and the rows of books. The beautiful sad eyed man was pressed close behind him, although his sad eyes were tightly screwed shut as he slowly and painstakingly pressed a mouth wateringly thick cock into the willing arse that was being presented to him. Ianto knew he should leave, or look away or make some indication that he was present but he could tear his eyes from the erotic and heartbreaking sight before him.

When he had seen the two men in Cathays Park he had been struck by the tenderness and care with which the dark haired beauty had touched his obviously injured partner. He remembered how he had thought that maybe they were a couple; looking at the gentle caresses that the big man was bestowing in the arse and hips of the white haired guy, the tender kisses that were planted on the younger man's neck he was left in no doubt that these two men were in a loving relationship.

_I can't do this_ he thought, _even though I am sure we would be brilliant together if I tried to take him from his partner I'll be no better that that slut who took Cai from me._ He looked at the rutting men in before him the white haired guy was leaning back against his lover, his head resting on his shoulder moaning softly as sharp nips were alternated with small kisses.

'Jack, please' the words were so soft that Ianto could barely hear them. _Jack _he smiled, _his name is Jack. It's a good strong name, it suits him_

The man Ianto now knew as Jack pushed another millimetre into his pleading lover, 'what do you want beautiful?' he murmured as he leant forward an sucked the very tip of the other man's ear into his mouth, grazing it gently with his teeth, making him quiver and moan

'Move, please'

Ianto stared dry mouthed as Jack pulled almost all of the way out before slamming hard, back into the willing body forcing a shrill cry of pleasure from him, 'again' he whimpered panting and laughing as Jack happily complied alternating his thrusts with manipulation of the other man's penis. Almost absent-mindedly Ianto was rubbing his erection his eyes fixed on the amazing sight of the two men coming in perfect synchronisation. A tiny bead of sweat trickled from Jack's temple, pausing at the edge of his tightly closed eyes before sliding down his cheek like a pseudo tear

As Jack groaned out his own orgasm, burying his face in the neck of his partner, the semen of white haired man erupted, spilling in a rush over the books in front of him. The strange white haired man slowly turned his head, opened his brilliant green eyes and stared directly at Ianto, as if he had known he was there all the time giving him a triumphant and knowing smile. With a muffled curse, Ianto turned on his heel and fled back to the stairs.

* * *

Idris looked up, startled, as his friend burst through the doors and into the ground floor of the library, 'Yan?'

Ianto was pale as he strode up to the counter, 'we going to lunch or what?' he asked abruptly

'er...yeah, sure' Idris grabbed his bag and gave a little wave to Mrs Davies and hurried to Ianto's side, 'everything OK, Yan? Was it not him?'

'No' said Ianto shortly, as they exited the library, 'it wasn't the man that I thought it was.'

* * *

Up on the fifth floor, Jack and Gil were tidying themselves up. Jack had just finished licking all traces of Gil's come from the Valerian stomach and legs when his mobile rang. With a grimace Jack scrambled to his feet and fumbled in his pocket, eyes locked on Gil who was tucking his cock back into his pants. He glanced at the screen before answering and putting the phone into speaker mode

'Tosh? What's happening?'

'That last glyph was all we needed, Jack. We've cracked the message – a bit'

Jack frowned, 'whaddya mean...a bit?'

'Tosh's frustration was palpable, 'we've translated the symbols but all we have is a meaningless mess of letters. We need fresh eyes on it.'

Gil was already helping Jack into his coat, 'we're on our way' said Jack as they headed towards the stairs. Just as Gil was about to open the door, Jack pulled him into his arms and planted a passionate kiss on his lips, 'thank you' he whispered

Gil smiled lovingly at his dishevelled lover, 'for what?'

'For reminding me about fun.'


	8. Chapter 8

Idris trotted beside Ianto, desperately trying to get his long legged friend to slow down enough to allow him to catch breath. In the end he just stopped dead and waited for Ianto to realise that he was not longer at his side. After a few steps, Ianto stopped and turn to stare at his friend

'What?'

Idris walked up to him and placed a gentle hand on Ianto's cheek, 'what happened' he asked softly

Ianto's shoulders slumped and he allowed Idris to guide him into a nearby cafe. He sat gazing sadly at the table top whilst Idris went to order some food for them; he looked up as Idris plonked a coffee in front of him and settled himself on the seat beside him. Idris nudged him with his shoulder,

'C'mon then' he said, 'what's upset you so much?'

Ianto traced a meaningless pattern on the table top with his finger, 'it was him' he said, 'he was up there with another man, it was obvious... I...I just realised I have no chance with him'

Idris frowned, 'how so? I mean, just because he had someone with him doesn't mean he would not be interested in you'

Ianto shook his head, 'No, no. Whatever sad little fantasy I had built up for myself was just that, a fantasy. I have to try to get this man out of my head and move on with my life.'

'I still don't get it' protested Idris

'He had his cock in the other guy's arse' said Ianto loudly, drawing a disapproving look from the middle aged couple at the next table

Idris laughed, 'is that all? Christ, Yan. We both know that doesn't prove anything'

Ianto grimaced, 'I may not be all that loveable Idris, but I do recognise love when I see it. This wasn't some meaningless fuck; there was real affection and care in their coupling.'

'Oh, Ianto, I'm sorry' Idris reached across and took hold of Ianto's hand gently caressing it with his thumb, 'why are you so sure that he should be with you?'

Ianto shrugged, 'I don't know. I'm not saying my life will be ruined if I'm not with him but I know that without him my life will not be as fulfilling as it could be.'

'So fight for him' Anwen dumped her bag on the floor and slid into the seat opposite the two men.

Ianto scowled at Idris, 'you phoned Anwen?'

'When I was ordering the food' Idris was unrepentant, 'this is a two friend problem, so I called her in as back up.'

Anwen looked at Ianto severely, 'let me get this straight,' she said slowly, 'you have convinced yourself that this man...'

'Jack' interrupted Ianto

'...this Jack' continued Anwen, without missing a beat, 'is the love of your life but even though you believe that you'll be much happier with him in your life, you aren't prepared to fight for him?'

Ianto sighed, 'You should have seen them together' he said sadly, 'they were beautiful, they were complete,' he gave a bitter laugh, 'no room there for Ianto.'

Anwen and Idris looked at each other

'So you want him?' asked Idris

'Yes' replied Ianto

'But he's with someone else' clarified Anwen

'Yes'

'And you are sure that it's serious between him and this other guy?' said Idris

'Yes'

'And you won't consider trying to seduce him away?' enquired Anwen

'Absolutely not'

Anwen and Idris made eye contact again, 'then you are screwed' they said in unison.

* * *

Tosh took off her glasses and rubbed her tired eyes. Owen appeared at her side with a mug of hot chocolate for her which she took gratefully.

'Thanks' she said taking a sip, 'I really need this.'

'No joy?' asked Owen sympathetically

Tosh shook her head, 'I've tried almost every algorithm in the system, different languages terran and extra terrestrial. Nothing.'

The alarm of the door sounded and Gwen wandered in and joined Owen at Tosh's desk, 'have you cracked it' she demanded

'No'

Gwen frowned, 'but you have time to slack off slurping hot chocolate?'

'Hey!' Owen jumped to his friend's defence, 'This is the first break Tosh has taken since Gil and Jack left for the library. What have you been doing, anyway?'

Gwen tossed her head, 'I had a hair appointment'

'And I am sure you will make the time up at the end of the day' Jack and Gil emerged from the parking entrance. 'Tosh – what have you got for me?'

Tosh tapped her keyboard and Jack leant forward to see the letters on the screen more clearly

Weha ou vefou ssy ndyo mi ucom eho meco meba uswe ckto

'Do you recognise it?' she asked Jack hopefully, her face falling as Jack shook his head

Jack gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze, 'I take it this is the first message?' Tosh nodded, 'OK then,' said Jack, Show me the longer one.' Tosh tapped once more

Gila usoon nthia ithyo nmax llbew ifero wi uskol ngwe ecthn recom i iarthus ywea wea eread recom clesb ingfo reecy ryo uinth

Jack stated at the screen for several long moments then he straightened up slowly, 'Tosh send a copy of this file to the computer in my office please, then close up here and go home.' He turned away, grasping Gil by the elbow and pulling him along towards the stairway, 'you, come with me'

Gwen spoke up, 'Jack? Have you solved it?'

Jack pushed by her, almost dragging his lover up the stairs, 'All of you go home' he ground out through gritted teeth, 'I'll sort this out'

Gwen moved to stand in front of him, 'Jack what the hell? Talk to me.'

'There is nothing to talk about' he said, 'Go home Gwen.'

'No! You can't keep things from us, from me. We are a team, we are your team; we need to know what you know.'

'Really?' snarled Jack, 'and if you know what I know - then what? Do you have the knowledge, the balls to act? I don't think so'

'At least I keep my mind on the job,' sneered Gwen, 'I don't let myself get distracted by a pretty alien boy with a tight arse!'

The smack that Jack landed across Gwen's face knocked her to the ground and echoed around the hub drowning out the protests of Gil and Tosh. Furious Jack turned to face Owen and Tosh, 'Do either of you have something to say?' he snapped.

Owen held up his hands and backed away but Tosh bravely stepped forwards and placed her hand on Jack's where he was grasping Gil's arm tightly

'Jack, you are hurting Gil,' she said softly and you are scaring the rest of us. What is the matter?'

Gil spoke up and, although Jack's fingers were digging painfully into the soft flesh of his upper arm, his voice was as soft and steady as always, 'Jack understands the communication and I have some explaining to do,' his gaze took in all of the Torchwood team, 'to all of you.'

Jack eased his grip but maintained his hold; he turned Gil to face him, 'Gil...'

Gwen was back on her feet, her gun out and pointing at the Valerian, 'You have been deceiving us all along' she snarled, 'you have been manipulating Tosh and Owen with your soft words and pretend friendship and fuck knows what mind games and the gods alone know what you have been doing to Jack. I'm the only one...' she looked straight into Jack's eyes, ' the only one, 'she continued, 'who was not taken in by your bullshit and lies.'

With no effort at all Gil pulled his arm from Jack's hold, 'I may not have revealed the entire truth,' he said with an impressive dignity, 'but I have never lied to any of you and I have pretended nothing. Toshiko Sato and Dr Owen Harper have my friendship and that of my descendants until the House of Manartus is no longer remembered on the Valerian homeworld; and Jack...' Gil placed a tender hand on Jack's face, stroking his cheek lovingly, 'I owe Jack a debt I can never repay, my love my devotion and every resource of my life will be his for eternity.'

Gwen snorted, 'I'm still not buying this crap.' She said, dismissively.

Gil laughed, 'because at the heart of all your suspicion and so-called concern is a bitter jealousy of what Jack and I have been to each other, your obsession with what Jack and I do to and with each other is only because you want Jack for yourself. He will never be yours – I told you that on the quay, that day and it is even truer now than it was then.'

Tosh stepped forward and smiled at Gil, 'I believe you' she said softly.

Owen moved to stand next to her, 'me, too' he declared

Jack took Gil's hand and treaded their fingers together, 'and me'

Gil smiled at them all, these people had become extraordinarily dear to him during his sojourn on this planet 'then we need to talk,' he said, 'my time is short.'

* * *

Anwen banged her head gently on the table; Ianto stared, sightlessly, out of the window and Idris sighed quietly and finished off Ianto's chips.

'I can't stay here' said Ianto suddenly

'We could go to mine' said Anwen in a muffled voice, her head still resting on the table top

'I can't stay here in Cardiff' clarified Ianto

'I knew it' said Idris, 'I knew you were getting restless, didn't I say back at the library?'

'I can't stay in Cardiff and risk running into him again, it would be too hard'

Idris' face fell, 'oh Yan, really?'

Ianto took hold of his friend's hand, 'I won't go far,' he promised, 'I have to be able to get back here to be your best man, don't I?'

Suddenly, Anwen sat up and slapped her hand down on the table, 'my cousin is going to New York for six months' she exclaimed

Ianto and Idris exchanged puzzled looks, 'um...congratulations' tried Ianto

'Idiot' Anwen slapped Ianto affectionately, 'My cousin owns a flat in central London and is looking for someone to flat-sit while she is in New York. The bills are all paid and she is willing to pay a small wage to cover some of the food and cleaning bills. It's far enough away for you to avoid seeing Jack, close enough to come back for Idris' wedding and it will give you some breathing space.'

Ianto smiled, 'that could work. When does your cousin leave?'

'In four days'

'Perfect' said Ianto, 'Idris, have you guys set a date yet?'

'In three weeks' Idris told him.

'Brilliant, said Ianto, 'I can go down and settle in, find a job and come back for your stag night, Idris'

'Great' cheered Anwen, and, pulling out her phone, she moved away from the table to call her cousin

Idris, however, was not so sure, 'Yan are you positive this is the right thing for you?' he asked softly, 'you aren't just walking away from Jack, you are walking away from your friends, from those of us who love you. You've left before but never under these circumstances'

Ianto sighed, 'I know, Id, but...I've seen Jack three times now and every time I see him it gets harder to walk away from him. He has a partner, a gorgeous partner too. You haven't seen them together, they are so right, they are beautiful. I can't be the one to break up what is clearly a loving relationship, if I did that I'd be no better than the bastard that did that to me and if Jack let me he'd be no better than Cai. The only way to survive this unreasonable and ridiculous preoccupation with a man I've only exchanged about a dozen words with is to run; and, anyway...' he voice shook slightly, ' if I need you you're only a phone call away aren't you?'

'Always'

Anwen returned with a big smile on her face, 'sorted Ianto,' she said, 'If you can go down in a couple of days, Carly will show you the flat and talk through the arrangements. Then you can move in whenever you want'

'Ok then,' Ianto looked at his two dearest friends, 'looks like I'm leaving Cardiff'

* * *

Jack swept into the conference room, Gil following closely behind him and Tosh, Owen and Gwen straggling in the rear. Once everyone was seated Jack smiled at Tosh,

'Can you put thise two messages up on the screen please, Tosh' he asked politely.

Tosh's finger flew over her key board and the meaningless jumble of letters appeared

Weha ou vefou ssy ndyo mi ucom eho meco meba uswe ckto

Gila usoon nthia ithyo nmax llbew ifero wi uskol ngwe ecthn recom i iarthus ywe wea eread recom clesb ingfo reecy ryo uinth

'Ok' said Jack, 'now take the second group of letters and move them to the end of the sequence, then take the fourth grouping and place it in front of the second – carry on like that until I tell you to stop.' With a puzzled frown on her face Tosh complied, moving groups of letters around until Jack said sharply, 'stop.' He stared at the screen for a few seconds before nodding and commanding, 'do the same with the second sequence.' Within a few seconds the team were looking at the alerted sequences:

Weha vefou ndyo ucom eho meco meba ckto uswe mi ssy ou

Gila nthia nmax ifero uskol ecthn i iarthus wea recom ingwea recom ingfo ryo uinth reecy clesb ere ad ywe wi llbew ithyo usoon

'Can you see it' asked Jack excitedly

See what?' asked Gwen

'It was the second sequences that gave me the clue,' continued Jack, he nodded to Gil, 'tell us your full name again,' he demanded

'Gilanthianmaxiferouskolecthniarthus'

Tosh drew a soft breath and Jack grinned at her, 'you see it now don't you Toshiko'

Nodding Tosh highlighted the first group of letters from the second sequence, removing the spaces

**Gilanthianmaxiferouskolecthniiarthus** wea recom ingwea recom ingfo ryo uinth reecy clesb ere ad ywe wi llbew ithyo usoon

'It's a message for Gil' said Gwen, ever quick on the uptake

'We've been too clever for our own good,' said Jack, 'this is one of the simplest ways to conceal a message. We used it all the time as cadets at the Time Agency, thought we were fooling the instructors,' he gave a reminiscent chuckle, 'arrogant young idiots, we were. All you have to do is run the message into one long string of letters and spilt them up into arbitrary groupings.'

'So can you read it' asked Gwen

Jack laughed, 'we all can,' he moved to where Tosh was seated, ' may I?' he asked gesturing to the keyboard and Tosh willing moved out of her chair. Jack began to move the characters together to make two long strings of letters

Wehavefoundyoucomehomecomebacktouswemissyou

Gilanthianmaxiferouskolecthniiarthuswearecomingwearecomingforyouinthreecyclesbereadywewillbewithyousoon

After a few seconds Owen laughed and Jack smiled at him approvingly whilst Tosh nodded at him. Gwen was still perplexed, 'what am I supposed to see?' she groused

Jack rolled his eyes and manipulated the letters so that Gwen could see what the rest of them were seeing

We have found you come home come back to us we miss you

Gilanthianmaxiferouskolecthniiarthus we are coming we are coming for you in three cycles be ready we will be with you soon

Four pairs of eyes turned to look at Gil who had the grace to slightly abashed, he gave everyone a weak smile

'Looks like I'm leaving Cardiff' he said


	9. Chapter 9

Gil took Jack's hand and gently kissed the back of it. He looked around the rest of the team and sighed.

'No matter what you think, Gwen' he began, 'I have never lied to anyone in this room and my reason for being here is wholly benign.' Gwen snorted and Jack and Tosh glared at her; Gil continued, 'I did not fall through the rift, I travelled through it deliberately. My people have a tradition that the oldest son of any scion must undertake a rite of passage, the Ka-va'et, before they are deemed adult and competent to fulfil their destiny. '

Gwen rolled her eyes, 'and you came to Cardiff to do that?'

Gill stared at her, 'I was drawn here because this is where the universe thought I should be'

'Yeah right'

Jack interrupted, 'Gwen shut up or leave'

'But Jack' she wailed, 'I seem to be the only one here who thinks this little shit is up to something, the only one here who is the voice of reason – you need me here, like you need me for so many things if only you would admit it.'

Gil had closed his eyes and his grip on Jack's hand tightened, suddenly Gwen collapsed, her head hitting the polished table top with a heavy thud. Jack turned to his lover, 'Gil?'

'Gil smiled, 'relax Jack, I sent her to sleep. She'll wake up in about ten hours with no memory of the events of today and the mother of all headaches. It seemed to be the only way to shut her up'

Owen straightened up from where he had been checking Gwen's vital signs, 'impressive' he murmured, 'I wish you could teach me how to do that.'

Jack, however, was not so easily distracted, 'so you came here deliberately in order to undertake your rite of passage, so what do these messages mean? Have you completed your task? Who are these people who have been looking for you?'

Gil sighed, 'I am the oldest scion of my house' he said, 'but the importance of my house is second to none in any of the seven galaxies. My parents and their advisors refused to allow me to undertake the Ka-va'et. Even though it has been many millennia since anyone died on a quest, my parents refused to take the risk. They restrained my freedom in an effort to keep me safe...and a child.'

'But why?' asked Tosh, 'why are you so important?'

Gil sat up straighter, 'You know me as Gil' he said, 'but actually my full and formal title, which should be used when addressing me directly, is Gilanthianmaxiferouskolecthniarthus, Principal Scion of the House of Manartus, Crown Prince Imperial of the Forty Fifth Valerian Empire, Galactic Ambassador, Cultivator Imperator to the Universe Sentient, Holder of the Honorary Monarchy of The Lost Moon of Poosh, Grand Arbitrator of Valerian Prime. Nineteenth Dan of the Ancient Order Horticulturists and ...er...oh crap, there's another one but I can never remember it.'

Jack had gone pale, 'jeez Gil, you are galactic royalty, why didn't...'

Gil snapped his fingers, 'oh! Sanctified Prelate of Acturus Theta! That's the one I always forget.'

Tosh and Owen were staring silently at the two men

'Why didn't you tell me?' asked Jack.

Gil moved closer to his lover, 'I wanted you to like me for me' he said sadly, 'I have spent my entire life surrounded by sycophants and lickspittles. The friendship and kindness that you all offered me when you believed I was nothing more than a confused and penniless riftugee was unlike anything I had experienced in my life before. I liked it, I loved you for it. Even Gwen's hostility was refreshing to me'

'This ka-va'et' asked Tosh, what does it entail?'

'For the majority of Valerians, it involves leaving the home world and going out into the galaxy to do good. Some volunteer on colony planets, others create beauty on uncultivated planets, some teach, some take healing out into the galaxy. The important things are to grow, to learn and to leave the universe a better place than it was before.'

'But your parents were against this?' asked Owen

Gil shrugged, 'I am their only sporling, our house holds the fate and security of the thirty four planets in its hands; my rootstock, my father, is declining and I will soon come into my destiny.' He laughed, 'I had to climb out of my bedroom window and over the royal compound walls before I was able to catch a rift surge to bring me here. I imagine they have been searching for me ever since'

'Hence the messages, I suppose' said Owen

Gil nodded, 'I'm sorry Tosh' he said penitently, 'I had reinforced my own shields to hide myself from them, but your mind is open, organised and logical – it was easy for my people to use you as a conduit.' He paused, 'Such behaviour, invading the mind of, forgive me, a lesser species is an unforgivable violation. It must be a sign of how concerned they have been about me.'

Jack stirred, ever since Gil's revelation about his status, he had been silent, gripping Gil's hand in his own, his eyes downcast and his expression sombre, 'and your Ka-va-et, is it complete?'

For the first time since beginning his story, Gil's bright green eyes rested upon his lover's face; Tosh did not think that she had ever seen such naked love and compassion on anyone's face. Owen must have seen it too because he hesitantly took Tosh's hand in his own. 'A Valerian's Ka-va'et is not generally a topic for discussion with non-Valerians,' he said softly, 'but I will tell you that mine is nearing its end, I have only one or two more tasks requiring completion.'

A silence fell as the two men stared onto each other's eyes, until Owen squeezed Tosh's hand and leaning in, whispered into her ear, 'whatever his task is, it involves Jack in some way.' Tosh gave an imperceptible nod.

Owen cleared his throat, 'when will your people be here?'

Gil dragged his attention away from Jack and clearly struggled to focus upon Owen, 'the message said three cycles' he said, 'so any time in the next few days'

'Ok' Owen seemed strangely uncomfortable, 'well then, you two should make the most of the time you have.' He stood up, pulling Toshiko with him since her hand was still firmly clasped within his own, 'we'll see you both in the morning,' he said.

Reluctantly, Gil let go his hold of Jack's hand and moved around the table to pull Tosh into a hug, he kissed her gently on the forehead before releasing her and doing the same to an astonished Owen. 'You are my dear friends,' he murmured, 'I will hold you both in my heart until my branches wither. Your lives will be blessed beyond all measure. Enjoy one another, sleep well and awake refreshed.'

Jack and Gil smiled at each other as Tosh and Owen left the boardroom together, smiles that widened as Owen slid his arm around Toshiko's waist.

'Did you do that?' said Jack

'The desire and the feelings were there,' said Gil, 'I merely...erased...the barriers that both had erected around those emotions making them open to accepting each other.'

'Thank the Goddesses, it was becoming painful to watch' grinned Jack, then his grin faded, 'in the park, after we first found you, I was overwhelmed by affection and compassion for you before I even knew who you were – did you create those emotions in me?'

'Sweet Goddesses, no' Gil looked sick at the very idea, then he blushed a delicate green, 'I cannot get through your shields, Jack so even if I could conceive of such an action I would be unable to carry it through. I'm afraid the emotions you felt were mine, not yours. I must have been projecting really loudly but you cannot blame me, you were, you are, the most stunning creature I have ever seen. I have never met a being with eyes such as yours, all my people have green eyes like mine; yours are exotic, breathtaking and beautiful. It's not surprising you picked up my attraction and arousal – I was mentally screaming my desire for you at the top of my voice. A bit like Tosh and Owen have been to me; now, hopefully, they will take steps to claim each other and, no matter what, they will sleep deeply tonight'

'And wake with the mother of all headaches?' enquired Jack, drily 'you do realise you have incapacitated my entire team, Gil?'

Gil laughed, 'Tosh and Owen will be fine, they will sleep well and wake rested,' he said reassuringly, 'I gave Gwen the headache because I don't like her!'

Jack chuckled, 'Remind me to stay on your good side then.'

Gil stroked Jack's face extruding his micro-tendrils to trace Jack's mouth, 'You reside in my heart, 'he said softly, 'that has no sides, not for you'

'So, you have never used you psychic skills on me?'

Gil thought back to how he had treated Tosh when he first saw and recognised the message from his protectors and the interlude in Jack's office when he had distracted Jack from the anticipated questioning and chastisement with a release of his pheromone pollen . _But that_, he thought to himself, _was not a voluntary act on my part, it was merely a physiological reaction to Jack himself. _He smiled at the beautiful man before him, 'no, never' he said.

As the cog-wheel door rolled closed behind Owen and Tosh, Jack pulled Gil into his arms, 'I'm going to lose you soon aren't I?' he murmured his lip brushing tantalisingly over the sensitive skin of the Valerians neck. 'Owen is right, we should make the most of the time we have left.'

Gil groaned, 'Jack, wait...'

'There's more to tell isn't there?'

'Yes, there are things I need to tell you, things that Owen and Tosh did not need to know...' he was interrupted by a loud snore from Gwen Cooper, who was still slumped asleep at the head of the table, drooling. Gil sniggered, 'maybe we should take the rest of this conversation somewhere more...'

'Intimate?' said Jack hopefully

'Well, I was gonna go with private' admitted Gil, 'but intimate works for me.'

* * *

Despite the fact that the evening was still relatively young, they ended up naked in Jack's small bed as Gil had known they would; he had noted that Jack coped with emotional conversations better in the close confines of his bunker, enclosed safely in a pair of loving arms. He tried not to think about the long lonely years that Jack had experienced when the comfort of loving arms was not available to him.

Jack pulled Gil close to him, gently stroking the soft skin of the Valerian's back, sighing softly as Gil slid his long fingers across Jack's chest, fondling his nipples with the same fascination he had displayed on their first coupling. The two men rested their foreheads together, eyes locked and exhalations shared. They gently rocked together, producing sufficient friction to keep them hard and tingling but nothing more.

'Tell me' said Jack softly

Gil took a shuddering breath, 'my people are generally viewed by other races as skilled gardeners,' Jack nodded, encouragingly, 'some perceptive people' Gil continued,' have reached the conclusion that our advanced psychic skills enable us to communicate with the planetary life force and use that link to cultivate and manage plant growth. You know that is true, you saw this planet help me heal when Gwen shot me...but ...for the House of Manarthus, this is a small part of what we can do.' He paused and placed a soft kiss on Jack's lips, 'this is harder that I thought it would be,' he whispered, 'normally we do not speak of these things outside of The Family.'

Jack tenderly traced Gil's features with the tips of his fingers, 'you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to'

Gil's eyes drifted closed as he luxuriated in Jack's touch, 'no I have to tell you' he said, 'I owe it to you and you need to know.'

'Ok' Jack drew back slightly but still kept his hands on Gil's skin.

Gil smiled and continued, 'the universe is a sentient being,' he said, 'and I am psychically linked with her, she sent me here to help you Jack.'

Jack frowned, 'she...I...what?' he stammered eventually

'The universe knows you, Jack. She knows you and she loves you. She knows how The Doctor treated you and it appalls her. She feels your loneliness and it makes her weep. She sees how you protect her children and she wants to pay her debt to you. Carrying out her wishes, that is my Ka-va'et'

Tears were standing in Jack's eyes, 'did she send you here to love me?' he whispered brokenly, 'because I am very close to letting myself begin loving you.'

'No' Gil shook his head sadly, 'no, I learnt to love you all on my own, but you are not for me. My fulfilment lies in another direction she assures me. However, there is a boy in this city who will complete you as you will him. I am tasked to make that happen'

'Who?'

'He was at the park, we met him on the plas...and he saw us at the library earlier'

'Oh' Jack's exclamation was joyful and full of wonder, 'the beautiful boy, the lonely one'

Gil nodded, 'She says he holds the other half of your soul as you do his – you have to be together because you will complete each other.'

'But I don't know his name,' said Jack, 'I don't know how to find him.' Then he realised what Gil had said, 'he saw us at the library? Won't he think we are together? Will he even want to be with me?

'Trust the Great Mother Universe who nurtures us all' said Gil, 'if she wills it, it will be.'

'But...'

'Jack, trust me' whispered Gil. 'I love you so much as does the Universe Sentient, your happiness matters to us. She wills it, it will be.'

Jack pulled Gil closer to his body, 'this is the greatest gift anyone has given me,' he said in a hushed tone, 'I don't know how to react'

Gil rested a hand on Jacks hip and extended his fingertip micro-tendrils so that they caressed and entwined themselves around Jack's heated and engorged flesh, 'You could start,' he suggested in a low and seductive voice, 'by putting this inside me and pounding me until I scream your name so loud they hear it on the plas.'

Jack chuckled and twisted their bodies so that Gil lay trusting and open beneath him, 'now, that I most definitely do know how to react to.'


	10. Chapter 10

Gwen sat, uncharacteristically quiet, in the booth that Jack had reserved for the team at their favourite bar. She had felt off kilter and out of step with reality for the last two days; ever since she had woken up in the boardroom at the Hub, stiff, sore, the side of her face covered in drool and with a killer headache. She had no memory of the events that had lead to her waking up in that state and Jack and the others claimed to have no idea what she had been up to. She made a tremendous effort and smiled across the table at Gil, in whose honour this night out had been organised. Tosh had reminded her that Gil's people had been in touch and were on their way to take him home when she had asked what made Gil so special that he got a night out arranged for him. Gwen frowned, that sounded like something she should remember, but she didn't; also, she wondered, when exactly had Tosh and Owen become so loved up and couple-y.

'So, Gil, are you excited to be going home' she asked disinterestedly

Gil dragged his eyes away from Jack, who was deep in what appeared to be a highly flirtatious conversation with the barman, 'hmm? Oh, yeah, yeah I guess so. It will be hard to leave...everyone'

Gwen's eyes drifted to where Gil's attention seemed lodged, 'you love him don't you?'

'I've never denied it'

Gwen swallowed, 'I've seen how he looks at you,' she said through gritted teeth, 'I think he is very close to loving you, if you stayed...'

Gil shook his head, 'I don't want to leave but when the time comes I won't have a choice. Jack and I have already said our goodbyes. He was never going to be mine; the universe has other plans for him...and me.'

Even though Gwen still disliked and distrusted the Valerian, the sadness in his eyes constricted her heart, 'Gil, I'm...I...'

Gil laughed, 'don't pretend' he said, 'I know you Gwen Cooper – you would happily see me dead at your feet if you thought it would get Jack into your bed. You do not seriously expect me to believe that you want me to stay, you can't wait to for me to leave; you think it will leave the field open for you, although I suspect that you also hope that if I stayed Jack would leave Torchwood and you could take over. Must be difficult for you with your ambition and your libido in constant opposition like that '

Gwen bristled and opened her mouth to deliver a stinging rebuke but the moment was broken with the arrival of Tosh and Owen who slid into the booth next to Gwen. 'Budge up' grumbled Owen, waving an arm in the air in an effort to attract Jack's attention, 'Oi Captain, the usual over here, mate.'

Jack turned and bestowed a dazzling smile on the new arrivals before turning back to order white wine for Tosh and a pint for Owen. He made eye contact with Gil and his smile softened_. Let's just have a good time tonight, _he thought_, no rift alerts, no dramas and no hissy fits from Ms Cooper. I...we... will miss Gil so we have to give him a good send off. _He picked up the loaded tray and headed across the bar to join his friends.

* * *

The bar was almost full as Ianto Jones pushed his way through the doors an hour later. He tried to scan the crowd to a glimpse of his friends but the place was so full it quickly became apparent that it would be like finding a couple of needles in a massive haystack. Picking one of the busiest pubs in Cardiff in which to meet, especially on karaoke night, might not have been the best idea they had ever had mused Ianto He spotted a vacant stool at the far end of the bar and pushed his way through the room. Sinking onto the stool Ianto managed to attract the attention of the barman and ordered himself a coke, he had been on nights out with Idris and Anwen before and he knew that pacing himself was important if he wanted to be in a fit state to set off to London in the morning. He gave the barman a fleeting smile as he placed his drink before him and fumbled in his jeans for his phone. He sent a text to Idris and Anwen,

-_where are you?-_

Almost immediately his phone vibrated, it was Idris,

_-Slight crisis, running late. Be with you by 8.30_ –

_Crap_, Ianto knew what that meant; Idris and David had had a minor domestic and were now embarking upon make up sex. Going off past experience Ianto knew he would be lucky if he saw Idris at all that night. He barely had time to finish reading the message when his phone vibrated again, Anwen this time

_-Suzie and Kevin both off sick. Stuck at the bar covering for them. Try and join me later –_

_Great, _thought Ianto, _stuck here on a night out I don't want, on my own, in a place I don't want to be. _He waved his glass at the barman, 'stick a dark rum in this will you mate.'

* * *

The noise in the pub was reaching the kind of levels that Jack was certain were associated with brain damage. It seemed as if there was an endless stream of tone deaf shrieking women desperate to expose themselves to the ridicule of their friends and the rest of the pub patrons, in fact he realised with a shock, Gwen was up on the stage murdering, "Don't Leave Me This Way" which Jack felt was at the very least insensitive given that this was supposed to a leaving do for someone who was leaving Torchwood against his will. He turned to Gil with a pained and apologetic look on his face and was taken aback to see Gill smiling at him. Gil grabbed his hand and squeezed it, before indicating the bar with his eyes. Frowning, Jack turned to try to see what it was Gil was trying to show him but nothing jumped out at him and he shrugged. Hesitantly, Gil toughed Jack's forehead with his finger and looked pleadingly at him. Jack knew what he wanted him to do and reluctantly lowered the most superficial of his mental shields, giving a small shudder as Gil slid into his mind.

_**He is here**_said Gil telepathically

_**He is? **_

_**Right at the very end of the bar, grey chinos, black shirt, red tee-shirt**_ sent Gil

Jack twisted but couldn't get a clear view though the crowded room; in spite of the glares that Gwen was sending his way from the stage as she screeched her way to the end of her chosen song, he stood up on his seat and craned to see. A slim dark haired young man was seated disconsolately on his own sipping at a coke. Jack felt his heart lurch and his breath catch in his throat. He turned to look at Gil and the hope and longing in his eyes almost bought Gil to tears.

_**Go, talk to him**_ said Gil mentally, _**he is for you and you are for him so go and claim him**_. He gave Jack a sad and loving smile, _**go on, nothing could make having to leave you easy but knowing you are loving and being loved by the man the universe knows is essential to you will help. **_Although he was trying hard to resist the temptation to explore Jack's mind now that he had finally been allowed in, Gil could not help but pick up on Jack's indecision; he could tell that Jack desperately wanted to go the young man at the bar but was fearful that Gil would be taken by his people if he left him. Gil felt as if his heart was breaking, _**go on Jack,**_ he sent, _**he needs you as you do him. I would not have changed my time with you for the world; we have said our farewells but my Ka-va'et is not yet completed and the Universe Sentient will not allow me to leave with my task incomplete, Now, go, GO. **_With a smile as bright as a million suns, Jack reached out and gently stroked Gil's face and then slid out from the booth with alacrity and began to push his way through the crowd towards the bar.

* * *

Ianto drained his glass and sent a brief text to both Anwen and Idris,

_-heading home. Will call you from London tomorrow –_

A large hand rested on Ianto's wrist, keeping him in his seat and a warm American voice buzzed in his ear,

'Hey gorgeous, can I buy you a drink?'

Ianto turned with a polite refusal on his lips and found himself staring into the bright blue eyes of the man from the park, the man who had featured in every waking fantasy and every wet dream he had experienced for the past few weeks. His smile was so wide he could barely articulate, 'Jack?' He could see that Jack was trying to ask him something but the noise from the Karaoke participants had started up again and this, coupled with the derisive laughter and barracking of the audience, made conversation impossible.

Jack leaned in and virtually screamed in Ianto's ear, 'let's get out of here' Ianto nodded and eagerly followed him toward the door. At some point Ianto noticed that Jack paused and made eye contact with the white haired man that Ianto had always seen him with before, the glance the men exchanged was charged with emotion until the white haired man smiled at Ianto and nodded at Jack before turning back to talk to the pretty Japanese woman Ianto remembered from the park.

The two men stumbled out into the night, Jack holding onto Ianto's hand as if it was the most precious thing in the universe. For his part Ianto could not tear his eyes from the beautiful man who was pulling him along the street with such urgency. At the first opportunity, Jack swerved into a darkened alleyway and pushed Ianto up against the wall.

'Your name' he gasped, leaning in to place a hot kiss on Ianto's throat

Ianto felt as if his brain was melting, all he could concentrate on was the feeling of Jack's lips against his skin, 'whaa...what' he moaned

'your name, what's your name' said Jack

'Ianto'

'Mmm, Ianto.' Jack pressed even closer but before he could say another word Ianto had captured his mouth in a hot and sensual kiss. He could feel Jack's hand fumbling at his clothes and eventually a large warm hand insinuated itself under his tee-shirt and splayed out over his abdomen. The men gasped as a wave of vertigo swept over them both and the gloomy alleyway seemed to tilt and sway; a musical laughter was heard just on the edge of hearing.

Reluctantly Ianto pulled back from the kiss, 'what was that?' he gasped

'Doesn't matter' murmured Jack moving in for another kiss, 'nothing matters now – we have found each other'

Part of Ianto (a very,very tiny part) was curious as to what Jack could possibly mean but all of the rest of him just wanted to get as close to this wonderful man as he possibly could. The two men were so wrapped up in each other and the mutual pleasure they were experiencing that the weevil that suddenly shot into the alleyway and cannoned into them took them both completely by surprise.


	11. Chapter 11

In the club, Gil suddenly slammed his beer down and turned to Owen.

'Jack's in trouble' he said urgently

Owen laughed, 'you saw who he left with,' he said, 'if Jack is in trouble, its trouble he doesn't need our help with.'

'No' Gil was on his feet and struggling to get past Gwen, 'real trouble. Please, we have to help him.'

Tosh and Owen exchanged glances and stood up shrugging into their jackets, only Gwen remained seated.

'Gwen?' Gil asked.

Gwen rolled her eyes, she was still irritated by Gil's comments from earlier in the evening, 'what?' she addressed herself to Tosh and Owen, ' Once again Gil says jump and we all ask "how high" Jack has gone off to shag some meaningless pick up – how much trouble can he be in?'

Gil was climbing over the table top in his desperation to get past her, his pale skin even paler than usual as he picked up on Jack's psychic emanations, 'weevil,' he cried, 'it's a weevil'

'Fuck!' Gwen was on her feet and fumbling for her weapon as Tosh and Owen ran from the pub in hot pursuit of Gil.

Gil skidded round the corner of the dingy alleyway, his headlong rush slowing as he took in the scene before him. The boy from the park was sitting on the filthy ground, covered in blood with the lifeless body of Jack Harkness in his arms, sobbing and screaming his grief to the sky. Some few feet behind the pair was the equally dead body of a weevil which had clearly had its head caved in somehow. Behind him, Gil could hear the rest of the team entering the alleyway at top speed and he signalled them to stay back. The slowing of their footsteps told him they had understood and obeyed. Cautiously he approached the hysterical young man.

'Hello,' said Gil softly, kneeling down next to Ianto, 'my name is Gil, what's yours'

Ianto clasped the limp body tighter and began to rock, kissing Jack's unresponsive face, 'dead' he said hopelessly.

Gil shuffled closer, 'please,' he said, 'can I take him? I may be able to help.'

'He's dead' screamed Ianto suddenly, 'DEAD. That weird faced thing attacked him and ripped out his throat. I pulled it off him and smashed its head in on that dumpster over there,' he waved wildly towards the rear of the alley where a severely dented dumpster testified to the adrenaline fuelled rage that the young man had experienced as a result of the attack on Jack. The original surge of grief left him and he began to cry quietly, 'that thing ripped his throat out; by the time I got it off him he was dead. Oh God he's dead and I never knew him.' He buried his face in Jack's hair and began to sob.

Gil gently stroked the distressed boy's head, 'listen..er'

'Ianto'

'Listen Ianto; please let me hold him, just for a minute. He was my lover and he is still my heartfriend and if he is gone then I need to say goodbye, too. '

Hiccupping slightly, Ianto loosened his grip on Jack's body and looked at Gil properly for the first time. He blushed, 'I remember you, he was caring for you the first time that I saw him in the park and you...you were with him in the library, you looked at me, you...you and he...you were...'

Gil smiled kindly at the discomforted young man, 'that's right, we were'

Another tear slid down Ianto's cheek, 'you were with him earlier, in the pub too, then he left with me. I'm so sorry'

'Don't be, our dance was ending, time for new partners for both of us, but still...' Gil opened his arms, 'please?'

Reluctantly Ianto allowed Gil to pull Jack's body into his arms, looking away as Gil placed a tender and loving kiss onto the cooling lips. Gil smiled at Ianto and then beckoned to Owen and Tosh, 'will you two look after Ianto please, I'm going to take care of Jack.'

He fastened his finger around Jack's wrist strap extruding his micro-tendrils into the sensitive mechanism encapsulated within and the pair of them disappeared in a flash of blinding white light.

* * *

Jack revived with a pained gasp and rolling sense of nausea, groaning he tried to raise himself up but was restrained by a pale pair of six fingered hands, 'easy Jack.'

Jack struggled to his feet, fighting a cold queasiness and a disorientating sense of vertigo, he clung to Gil's shoulders, 'wha...what happened' he rasped.

'Weevil' said Gil succinctly

'Oh Gods, Ianto. Is he OK?'

'He's fine, a bit shaken, you died in his arms so you may have some explaining to do when you meet up again but Owen and Tosh are looking after him'

Jack rested his forehead on Gil's shoulder and tried to stop the Hub spinning round, wait..the Hub?

'I was in an alley' he said, 'I was in an alley with Ianto. How did we get back here?'

Gil lifted Jack's arm so that his vortex manipulator was in front of his eyes, 'there is nothing a Time Lord can break that a Crown Prince of the House of Manarthus cannot fix,' he told Jack with a smile.

'We need to get back' said Jack urgently, 'Ianto needs to see I'm OK. I need to see that he is alright.'

'Wait Jack,' Gil looked deep into Jack's eyes, forcing his attention, 'you are not hearing me. There is NOTHING a Time Lord can break that a Crown Price of the House of Manarthus cannot fix. I tried to tell you that day on the plas but the moment passed. Now I can feel my people approaching and that means that my time is very short, so you have a decision to make.'

Jack looked confused, 'I don't understand,' he began, then his face changed as he realised what Gil was trying to say to him, 'you...you can fix ME?' he gasped, ' you can make me mortal?'

'The time vortex in your cells is a part of the Universe Sentient, she can use me as a conduit to return the vortex to its rightful place in her matrix. You have a chance of real and enduring happiness with this boy, Ianto and...you can live a mortal life if you wish it.'

Jack huffed a disbelieving chuckle, 'tonight was the first time I have had any sort of meaningful interaction with the boy, ' he said sadly, 'he is so young, how can you be so sure?'

Gil ran his fingers down Jack's cheek, 'I am the Cultivator Imperator to the Universe Sentient, ' he said proudly, 'she remembers forwards as well as backwards – she...and I...are sure.'

Tears were pouring down Jack's cheeks, 'then, please' he whispered, 'please, fix me if you can.'

Gil leant forward so that their foreheads were resting together; 'this will hurt' he warned softly closing his eyes as Jack began to scream.

* * *

Ianto was sitting numbly on the alley floor, the pretty Japanese girl, Toshiko, she said her name was, was trying to coax him onto his feet. A thin weaselly looking man had swept by him barely sparing him a glance and had begun to examine the dead body of the ugly ass creature at the end of the alley.

'Fuck me' he murmured, 'you did a right number on this one didn't you mate?' he threw a friendly glance at Ianto, 'impressive'

Toshiko had managed to get the traumatised man to his feet and he stood soundless and swaying. She cajoled him to walk with her to the end of the alleyway towards the comforting orange glow of the streetlights. As the illumination increased Tosh could see that tears were coursing silently down the young man's face, his lips were moving and Toshiko could see that he was repeating Jack's name over and over. Part of her was anxious to get back to help Owen bag up the dead weevil but she didn't want to abandon the clearly distraught man. She scanned the street before her and was delighted to see Gwen Cooper at the other side of the road leaning against the Torchwood SUV, she guided her bereaved charge across the street all the time murmuring comforting nonsense to him as if he were a distressed child.

'See' she said gently, 'here's Gwen, she will take care of you, OK?' Obediently Ianto sat down on the tailgate of the SUV that Gwen had opened and stared dispiritedly into the distance. Tosh caught Gwen's eye, 'Weevil attack.' she said quietly, 'he saw everything. Jack's dead but Gil got him away somehow. I imagine that Jack will be back as soon as he revives, I need to go and give Owen a hand, can you look after Ianto for a little while?'

Gwen survey the human wreckage before her, 'what's up with him' she said unsympathetically, 'why is he so upset, he only met Jack about half an hour ago surely?'

Tosh shook her head, 'I noticed him in the park the day we rescued Gil, apparently he keeps popping up on the edges of Jack's life. Gil was trying to explain it to me in the pub, it's something to do with his Ka-va'et. It was so loud in there that I couldn't hear him very well but I think he was saying that Jack and Ianto are destined to be together.' She smiled wistfully, 'I saw them leave together and I saw how Jack looked at him...and I think Gil is right'

Gwen looked at the broken man once more; he didn't seem that special; _this boy could be a threat; he could stop me getting Jack_ she thought. She dredged up the most sincere and sweetly sympathetic smile she could, 'leave him to me' she simpered, 'I'll take care of him.'

* * *

Jack had never felt pain like it, it felt as if every cell in his body was being rinsed with acid and scoured with wire wool; it was only the press of Gil's forehead against his own that kept him conscious and aware. Through tightly closed lids the gold light of the time vortex imprinted itself on his retina. He was vaguely aware that someone was screaming and it was only the raw pain in his throat that made him realise that the screaming was coming from him. Just as he thought that his first act as a mortal man would be to die of the agony of the process, it stopped. Jack collapsed into Gil's warm embrace; both men were trembling. Jack raised a shaking hand and cupped Gil's face, swiping away the Valerian's tears with his thumb as Gil did the same to him.

'Wow' he rasped

Gil managed a shaky grin, 'I warned you' he said

'That you did.' Jack paused, 'so, is that it? Am I mortal now?'

'One way to check' replied Gil, pulling a knife from his boot

'Whoa!' Jack backed away in alarm

Gil laughed, 'relax Jack.' He took hold of Jack's hand and turning it so that it was palm up, gently drew the knife blade across it. Jack hissed in pain, watching as the bright blood welled up from the shallow cut Gil had inflicted. 'How long would it take a cut like that to heal usually?' asked Gil.

Jack shrugged, 'couple of minutes, tops'

The two men stood staring into Jack's palm for several long minutes as if the future could be read in it – as indeed it could. When Jack's palm was so full of blood that it was beginning to spill onto the Hub floor, they looked into each other's eyes and smiled. Gil offered him a clean handkerchief, 'you'd better wrap that up' he suggested

'I owe you a debt I can never repay' said Jack, as he bound up his wounded hand, gratitude making his voice unsteady

'My Ka-va'et is completed thanks to you so my debt to you is, likewise, incalculable' whispered Gil, his mouth hovering close to Jack's, then he stiffened, a look of fear flashing across his face. 'Jack! My people are here' he said urgently, 'They will take me, remember how I loved you Jack, my beautiful Jack. Think of me fondly, although my actions seemed sometimes inconsistent they were always with this aim in mind...to leave you loved and happy...' he began to fade into translucency as the Valerian transport technology locked on him.

'Gil' desperately Jack reached for the young alien but he was rapidly becoming incorporeal. The last thing Jack saw were Gil's bright green eyes shining even brighter with tears, then he was gone and only an echo of his voice remained

'Jack, watch out for Gwen Cooper, she wants Torchwood and she wants you for her own and will poison things for you if she can't have what she wants. Love your Ianto and be happy my sweet'

Then he was really gone and Jack was alone in the Hub

* * *

Owen and Tosh had just managed to manoeuvre the dead body of the weevil into one of their heavy duty body bags that they kept stored in the boot of the SUV when the alleyway was flooded with a clear white light that blinded them. When the light faded and they could finally see again, Jack Harkness was leaning against a wall with a smile that was almost as blinding.

Tosh took a step towards him, 'Jack? What's happened? Where's Gil?'

Jack stepped forward and swung her off her feet, 'many things have happened, wonderful things, amazing things, Toshiko Sato'

Owen moved up to gently and possessively disentangle Tosh from Jack's embrace, 'and Gil?'

Jack's smile slithered away, 'his people took him' he said soberly

'We'll miss him' said Tosh tearfully

Jack nodded, 'yes we will' he looked around the alleyway and frowned, 'where's Ianto?'

Tosh wiped her eyes and gestured, 'Gwen is looking after him.'

Turning in his heel, Jack charged out of the alley and over to the SUV where Gwen was sitting sipping a coffee that she had scrounged from a nearby cafe. She looked up and gave Jack a soft smile, wriggling to show her cleavage to the best advantage. 'Jack, you're back' she exclaimed, 'are you alright'

'Never mind that' snapped Jack looking around wildly, 'where's Ianto?'

'Gone' said Gwen succinctly

'Gone? Gone where?'

Gwen looked surprised, 'how should I know? Tosh asked me to look after him so I did and then I sent him on his way.'

Jack thought about Gil's final warning and felt himself grow cold with fear,' what have you done?' he ground out in a low and dangerous tone

Gwen made her large eyes even wider, 'I followed procedure' she pouted, moving closer into Jack's personal space

'I repeat' said Jack ignoring all Gwen's attempts to draw his attention away from the beautiful man who had captured his heart so quickly, 'what did you do to Ianto?'

Gwen smiled, it was not a nice smile, 'I Retconned him'

Jack looked at her, matched her unpleasant smile with a far more terrifying one of his own, pulled out his Webley and shot her.


	12. Chapter 12

Tosh sat uncomfortably on the very edge of the sofa, watching Jack who was raging and prowling around in his office whilst Owen was otherwise occupied in the medical bay removing the bullet that Jack had fired into Gwen's shoulder.

'Jack' she said in a low kindly tone, 'talk to me. What on earth were you thinking? If Owen hadn't seen what you were doing and grabbed you arm to spoil your aim, Gwen would be dead now'

'Yeah, well, that's kinda what I was hoping for' growled Jack

'But why? Help me understand.'

Jack sighed, 'That boy, I can't explain it properly but... he's mine. He is the one person in the universe who will make me complete. I almost recognised that when I first caught sight of him the park when we first made contact with Gil and again several times after that. Last night was the first time I'd managed to have any significant amount of time with him and that stupid weevil ruined that'

Tosh frowned,this wasn't making a lot of sense to her, 'so you shot Gwen?'

Jack turned to face her for the first time and she was shocked at the misery etched on his face, 'she Retconned him Tosh. I don't know his last name or where he lives or anything about him except the fact I need him. Gil explained it to me, she wants me or Torchwood; I don't think she really cares which, so she took the sole foundation of my future happiness away from me for her own selfish reasons.'

Tosh walked up to Jack and pulled him into her arms, for a consoling hug, 'then you were right to shoot her.'

* * *

An hour or so later all of the Torchwood team were gathered in the boardroom. Gwen had her arm in a sling and was looking pale but furious, Owen had taken the seat next to her – he was still in full blown doctor mode and was being protective of his patient. He had already yelled at Jack using terms like 'long term nerve damage' intensive therapy' and 'fucking trigger happy idiot' although he had calmed slightly after Tosh had dragged him into the ladies toilet for a" little chat". However, Jack and Tosh, seated on the other side of the table still had two scowling colleagues facing them. Jack cleared his throat, 'I have a number of things to say,' he began, 'things I'm sure that you will want to ask me about so I think the easiest way to do this is for me to have my say and then I'll do my best to answer any questions you have.'

'I hope the first one those things is an apology to me' snapped Gwen, sipping the coffee that Jack had thoughtfully supplied; she was ostentatiously nursing her injured arm and giving small winces of pain to emphasise the fact she had been shot in case anyone had forgotten.

'I will start with you, if you like,' said Jack, apparently calmly although Tosh could see a nerve jumping at the corner of his eye. 'Gwen Cooper, I employed you to remind us of our humanity and you have disappointed me greatly. Between your desire to have me in your bed and your insane ambition to control our operation here, you have morphed into a vindictive libidinous bitch that cannot be trusted on any level.' Gwen opened her mouth to respond but the look on Jack's face intimidated her so she contented herself with taking a contemptuous swallow of her coffee and making a show of trying to rearrange her arm into a more comfortable position. Jack continued, 'Gil warned me about you but even he really didn't tell me anything I wasn't beginning to suspect for myself. I could easily have prevented you from trying to instigate some sort to coup to remove me as leader of Torchwood Three, probably would have forgiven you eventually too, after all ambition is a good thing, so they tell me.' He paused and ran his hand over his face, 'but removing Ianto so completely from my life? For that I will not and cannot forgive you, I can't bear to look at you so...I'm firing you'

Owen and Tosh stared at each other in shock, whilst Gwen laughed, 'you're firing me? For simply following protocol? I gave him the lowest dose of Retcon that we have, he won't lose more than a few hours. Maybe you are so angry with me because you are frightened; frightened because if that's all it takes to scare him off he's not as "special" as you think'

'If I thought your actions were purely protocol driven then we would not be having this conversation' snarled Jack, 'any trust I had in you is irrevocably destroyed so your time as a Torchwood field agent is over. I have already blocked your access to our systems, you don't work here anymore – I think you know what that means'

Yeah right,' smirked Gwen, 'good luck getting **_me_** to swallow Retcon.'

Jack's smile would have terrified a whole regiment of Cybermen, 'enjoying your coffee?' he enquired politely. Beside him Tosh gave a hastily smothered giggle.

'What?'

'There's enough Retcon in that coffee you have been guzzling so charmingly to wipe at least the last ten years of your life' explained Jack, sweetly, 'I've already notified Rhys about the unfortunately fatal field accident you have suffered; you know, he wasn't as upset as I thought he would be, took the news of your death surprisingly well actually. I'm a bit rusty of calculating Retcon dosage I'm afraid, so let me apologise in advance for any vacant drooling you may find yourself doing in the future. Don't worry thought, I called in a few favours and found a nice UNIT run care facility for you, charming place on the border of Kazakhstan. It gets down to -10C in the winter so I've arranged for some nice woolly jumpers to be supplied for you. In fact, I think I have thought of just about everything, so...bye bye Gwen.'

'You fucking bastard' slurred Gwen, 'how could you do this to me?'

'Believe me, I would much rather have executed you; you can thank Tosh for my restraint in this' said Jack as Gwen slumped forward, her head hitting the conference table with a hearty smack. He looked at Owen and Tosh, 'no complaints?' he asked, 'no moral outrage?'

'Not from me, not since Tosh filled me in on what she'd done to your..er..friend ' said Owen, 'she was always a bit of a pain but that UNIT secondment seemed to turn her into a raving megalomaniac who thought she was so much better than the rest of us and that, coupled with her jealousy of Gil made her unbearable. If this guy is as important to you as you say I wouldn't have been taking bets on his or your safety with her around'

Tosh squeezed Jack's hand, 'what else did you have to say to us, Jack?'

Jack looked down at his hands; this was going to be harder than he anticipated. 'Just before he left, Gil completed his Ka-va'et by...making me mortal again.' He paused by Owen and Tosh merely stared at him in shock so he forced himself to continue, ' The time vortex that infected me at a cellular level and made me immortal has been returned to the energy matrix of the universe. I will age normally from this point on and, if mortally wounded, I will die.' He gave a heavy sigh, 'this makes me vulnerable and a liability in the field so I have spoken with Her Majesty and tendered my resignation from Torchwood, effective immediately. UNIT will be in touch Owen so that you can select a number of replacements.'

'Me?' asked Owen in shock, 'why me?'

'You are leader of Torchwood Three now'

Tosh frowned, 'Jack, you don't have to do this. I understand that being out in the field with death as a real concern is worrying but...'

Jack shook his head, 'it's not me I'm scared for Tosh. How many times have we relied on my immortality to resolve a problem? What happens if, in the heat of battle, we forget that that particular advantage isn't available to us anymore? What happens if that means that you or Owen gets hurt...or worse? I won't risk either of you; Owen you can expand the team to double or triple its size if you want to, Her Majesty had guaranteed the funds. My mind is made up on this and you won't get me to change it. I think Torchwood has had its pound of flesh from me – literally in some cases, so I'm done here,it's time for a new leader,' he grinned at Owen who still looked slightly shell shocked, 'UNIT and Her Majesty know that the transfer of power is immediate, but I'll be around for a while if you need advice. I have a month to try and find my Ianto, I know he is somewhere in Cardiff and I'll knock on every door in the damn city if I have to.'

Owen coughed, 'you won't have to do that Jack, as head of Torchwood Three, I formally put all of our resources at your disposal.'

Jack gave him a proud smile, 'Thank you, Owen.'

Tosh stroked his arm, 'why have you only a month to find Ianto?'

'I have a month,' said Jack, 'because as a way of getting the Queen and UNIT to release me from my role as leader of Torchwood Cardiff, I have agreed to take the job of Galactic Envoy with UNIT, based in Geneva. I have negotiated a month's grace before I take up the post in order to try to find Ianto. Cardiff isn't that big a place; if I can't find him in a month then he is not in the city. After that I will have to leave Cardiff for London to interview my new staff, and then it's on to Geneva to set up this planet's first Galactic Embassy virtually from scratch.'

Tosh and Owen seemed to be having a silent conversation over the table, until...

'You'll need a doctor experienced in xeno-biology and xeno-psychology, I expect' said Owen causally

'And someone who has worked with alien tech before' added Toshiko

Jack grinned, 'in about...six...'

'nine' interjected Owen quickly

'In about nine months, I will, yes'

Tosh and Owen exchanged smiles, 'excellent.'

Jack blinked hard, 'my dear friends,' he began as an alarm began to sound.

Tosh's fingers flew over her keyboard, 'we have some visitors in the parking bay' she reported bringing up the appropriate CCTV.

Jack grinned, 'it's the UNIT transport team I expect. They have come to collect Gwen.'

* * *

**The next day - 10.30 a.m **

Ianto slammed the boot of his car closed and turned to his two friends. Both had been shocked to find that Ianto had gone on a such a solo drinking binge after they had let him down, that he had no recollection of the previous night at all. What was even weirder was the fact that he had hardly any hangover. Hesitantly Idris moved forward to hug him,

'I'm so sorry about last night' he whispered

Ianto smiled and placed a gentle kiss on his lips, 'its forgotten' he smiled as Anwen moved in for a hug and a kiss too. 'I'll call you both once I'm settled in' he promised as he climbed into his packed car. As he pulled away, he could see Idris and Anwen standing hand in hand and waving dramatically.

'I hope I'm doing the right thing' Ianto said to himself as he negotiated the city centre, 'I could stay, keep looking for Jack. Maybe this is a big mistake, maybe I shouldn't give up so easily.' He paused at a busy roundabout, 'decision time' he murmured, 'straight on to the M4 or make a U-turn back to Cardiff Bay?' A tall brown haired man in a long coat crossed the road in front of Ianto's car making his heart jump with hope and anticipation, could it be? The man turned to face him, giving a small wave and a smile to acknowledge Ianto's courtesy in letting him cross. He had brown eyes and a short beard – he was quite cute but he was nothing like Jack. The sense of disappointment hit Ianto like a punch to the solar plexus, nearly causing him to throw up. He rested his head on the steering wheel for a brief second before whispering, 'sorry Jack,' and carefully pulling out into the traffic that was headed towards the motorway and London.


	13. Chapter 13

**Two months later.**

Ianto looked at the elegant secretary seated like a guardian sentinel in front of the double doors that led to the inner sanctum of the man he was hoping was going to be his new boss and heaved a deep internal sigh. _What the hell am I doing here_ he asked himself, _waiting to be interviewed for the post of Personal Assistant to some desk bound pen pusher in a department that is so clandestine the application form came with a copy of the Official Secrets Act for me to sign before I even applied for the job. No job description, no person spec, nothing, except an eye wateringly huge salary. _If it hadn't been for Anwen's cousin, Carly, who for some reason had rung him from New York totally out of the blue, specifically to encourage him to go for the mysterious post that he would not even have bothered applying for in other circumstances. For a start he already had a job in a small independent coffee shop which he was really enjoying and which paid him a reasonable wage which he supplemented by the very generous tips of his coffee disciples and allowed him to be flexible in the hours he worked so why on earth would be want a job that meant he had to wear a suit every day and work from 9 to 5? Carly had been very insistent that the job was perfect for him however, although how she could be so sure, having never actually met Ianto was not clear. When Ianto had questioned her as to why she was calling someone she didn't know to push them to apply for a job she had seen by accident in a newspaper being read by a man on the subway, all she could tell him was that she had had a dream that made it clear that it was imperative she did so. She had emphasised that there was a lot of overseas travel involved and it was that had snagged Ianto's interest. He supposed it was his linguistic skills that had got him shortlisted. His wanderlust had left large gaps in his C.V which had put a lot of potential employers off in the past but it also meant that he was fluent in German, French, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, Arabic and Hebrew (and Welsh, of course) and he was competent in Russian, Japanese and Chinese. He even had a smattering of Samoan, thanks to a gorgeous Samoan pool boy named Loelu who had made his stay in Apia a fortnight to remember; but he didn't think that the phrases he knew (oh, so good, suck me, harder, deeper, I'm coming) would be much use to him in the role.

_I like the idea of travel_ he mused, _I hope its_ _somewhere far away from Wales and bloody Cardiff._ He had been back home, officially, only once since he had left for London for Idris and David's wedding but to his shame he had also crept back two or three times more and had spent the time avoiding Anwen and Idris just wandering the Cardiff streets hoping to run into a certain beautiful American with sparkling blue eyes and large strong hands. He never had and had returned to London from these clandestine visits sad and discouraged_. I need to get away or I'll spend my whole life pinning for some man I only saw three times and only spoke to once. _Ianto looked at his shoes, a soft contemplative smile on his lips; he could almost feel the heat of Jack's hands on his shoulders, that day on the Plas when they had stood so close, they had almost...

'Mr Jones? Mr Jones?' The cut glass accent of the receptionist cut into Ianto's thoughts and dragged him back to the ornate waiting area she gestured to the double doors, 'The Colonel will see you now'

Ianto stood; carefully rearranging his jacket to hide the fact that his reminiscences had left him semi-erect, he took a deep breath, willed his recalcitrant cock to subside and walked forward to meet the man who held his future in his hands.

* * *

Jack Harkness was bored, bored, BORED. He had thought that leaving Torchwood, especially now that he was mortal, was a wise thing to do but after nearly two months in London, being deferred to and saluted every time he wandered out of his office in search of a mild flirtation, he felt as if he was suffocating. He missed Owen and Tosh and he missed Gil with such a sharp pain that it made him wonder if he had been closer to loving the Valerian than he had realised at the time. It didn't help that the boy, his beautiful, lost, boy, his Ianto, was constantly in his mind. Everything seemed to remind him of the mising Welshman. The barista who served Jack his morning coffee and would, Jack was sure, happily drop to his knees and give him a blow job to go with his latte given half the chance, had the same stormy blue eyes. The young man who cleaned Jack's office had the same dark curly hair and Jack often had to sit on his hands when he came in to empty his bins and his shredder in case he gave into the strong temptation to run his fingers through it. They had given him an ice maiden as a temporary PA; Lethbridge-Stewart had informed Jack, with a twinkle in his eye, that he had selected her personally since he understood that Jack enjoyed a challenge. The only part of her that Jack could stand was her mouth, the lips were full and tempting and every time he looked at them he had a sense memory of Ianto in that damned alleyway. He could feel the soft moistness of the Welshman's mouth and feel the soft sweep of his tongue on his. Every morning at 9.30 she would come into Jack's office to go over his schedule for the day and every morning, after watching those lips for thirty minutes straight, Jack would excuse himself and take his aching cock into his private bathroom for a sad wank, stifling his moans with the back of his hand and mouthing Ianto's name as he caught his ejaculate in a tissue. When evening came, Jack would haunt the bars and clubs of the city, looking for any tall dark haired pale man who was prepared to follow him into the toilets and let him bury himself deep inside him, and if Jack sobbed helplessly as he came, not one of them ever mentioned it.

He had spent the last two days interviewing people to be his PA when he moved to the Geneva Office in four weeks time. A seemingly never ending procession of beautiful men and woman had processed through his office with various academic degrees and levels of experience, some from the military and some from the diplomatic corp. and not one of them had taken Jack's conversation about the existence of aliens seriously enough to be considered appointable. Now there was just one candidate left to see, Jack shoved the neatly completed application form to one side, he could virtually recite it from memory at this point, and looked instead at the man's CV. He didn't appear to have any diplomatic experience but Jack was not really too concerned about that, the man, Jack glanced at the application form, Jones his name was, was educated to masters level and spoke an impressive array of languages, including the three spoken in Switzerland. A ear for languages was definite an asset in a job such as Jack was offering. Jack leant forward and keyed the intercom

'Please send Mr Jones in'

'Yes, Sir'

Jack's attention was back on the man's CV, this Jones seemed to have quite a wanderlust he had travelled across most of Europe as one would expect but had also spent time in more obscure places in the world, often volunteering with aid charities in the field. So, he had a social conscience, Jack liked that. He heard the door open almost on the periphery of his hearing and a soft Welsh voice enquired,

'Colonel Harkness?'

'It's Captain actually, Colonel is the closest these UNIT military boys could come to my air force rank of Group Captain,' he looked up with a professionally welcoming smile pasted on his face, taking in the well cut (and well filled) suit, 'but you can call me...'

'Jack?'

Stunned, Jack stared into the face of the man he had thought never to see again and there was a silence in the room so intense that it felt as if the universe itself was holding its breath

'Ianto?'

They were in each other's arms faster than pi meson particles decay (less than a tenth of a microsecond). Jack was running his fingers over Ianto's face, laughing and sobbing at the same time whilst Ianto was just holding onto Jack as tightly as he could. Then the babbling began as both men talked as fast as they could, neither giving way to the other, their voices blending into one joyful symphony of reunification

'Oh god, it's you, it's really you!'

'I looked for you every day, every day'

'I thought I'd lost you'

'I missed you so much

Then together 'I can't believe you are really here'

Jack was never sure which one of them made the first move but they were kissing as if they would die of hunger for each other and when he slid his tongue into the sweet wetness of Ianto's mouth it felt like sliding into a bed with cool fresh sheets after a long and wearisome journey and all he could think was, _I'm home_.

* * *

Janice Corbin, Jack's ice queen PA was just about to leave for her lunch when the doors to her troublesome boss's office burst open and Colonel Harkness stumbled out with his arm wrapped tightly around the waist of the last job candidate.

'Ah Ms Corbin, Mr Jones here has accepted the post of my personal assistant. If you could sort out the necessary forms for HR and payroll and send the requisite formal offer letters I'd be most grateful. Once you've done that you can take the rest of the day...' Mr Jones gave a meaningful cough, 'the rest of the week off. I'm going to be tied up by, with, Mr Jones, taking him through his duties etc.'

Janice frowned, 'but, Sir you have a 2.30 teleconference scheduled with the Secretary General of the United Nations'

The Colonel was heading out of the door and Janice could see that he had his hand shoved down the back of Mr. Jones' trousers, 'cancel it' he called back over his shoulder

'But Sir' wailed Janice, 'What shall I tell Mr Ban?'

Mr Jones turned around, 'tell him that Captain Harkness is unavoidably detained up my arse' he smirked.

The Colonel removed his hand to give Mr Jones a playful slap on the rump before smiling at Janice, 'tell him to remember Paris – he'll know what that means'

Then the two men entered the lift and were gone.

* * *

Ianto was never to forget being dragged through the streets of London by the man that he had very quickly concluded that he was in love with. The grasp that Jack had on his hand was almost painful and the pace he set was so fast that it was not conducive to any conversation and Ianto found himself almost jogging to keep up. At one point, as their pace slowed a little, Ianto managed to pant out 'Jack, where are we going?'

Jack swerved in to a discrete doorway, 'here' he grinned, 'UNIT have billeted me in a 5* apartment complex'. He hustled Ianto into a sumptuously appointed lift and swiped his key card to take them up to the top of the building. The lift doors opened directly into the penthouse and Ianto stared in disbelief at the spacious and luxurious interior.

'Fuck me!'

Jack laughed, 'that's the plan


	14. Chapter 14

Jack could not stop grinning, nor could he remember ever having woken up this happy; he slid his arm under his head to support his neck the better to gaze and the gorgeous young man who was sprawled asleep across his chest. After all that had happened, all the times they had almost met only to lose each other again, he had convinced himself that he would never be in this situation. He felt so loved, more adored than he had ever been in his long existence. Jack lay back, closed his eyes, let his mental barriers fall and sent a message out into the aether.

_**I cannot thank you enough for** **this man. The presence of his love warms my life and before I did not even realise how cold and empty it was. I am forever in your debt and in your service.**_

Ianto gave a soft little snort in his sleep and tightened his grip on Jack's torso. Jack's couldn't help himself; he placed a fervent kiss on the young man's temple drawing a sleep fill moan from his bed mate. Two sleepy grey blue eyes looked up into Jack's and a soft smile quirked the mouth that Jack already knew he would never tire of kissing.

'Hey' whispered Ianto, 'I didn't dream you.'

'Nope'

Ianto began to disentangle himself from Jack but Jack wrapped his arms tightly around the younger man, 'hey' he teased, 'where do you think you are going?'

A delicate blush suffused Ianto's cheeks 'toilet'

Jack laughed, 'Oh, you are adorable' he extricate and arm from the twisted sheets and gave a wave in the general direction of the bathroom, darting forward to place a long lick and a kiss on Ianto's bare bottom as he slid from the messy bed.

* * *

Ianto leant against the bathroom door – he idly noticed that the bathroom was as over large and expensively appointed as the rest of the apartment – he tried to catch his breath, being with Jack was like trying to ride a skateboard that was attached to a speeding sports car. From Ianto's perspective there had been no time at all between standing in the lift staring at the enormous apartment Jack was calling home and being naked, hard and leaking as Jack slid into him with a strange mixture of passion and tenderness that had almost bought tears to his eyes. He took a deep breath, opened the bathroom door and stepped out

Jack, who had been lying in wait for him outside the door immediately grabbed him and pressed him up against the wall, swooping in for a kiss that destroyed all of the sang froid he tried so desperately to recapture in the sanctuary of the bathroom.

'Mmm Ianto' purred Jack, insinuating a hand between their naked bodies to splay it over Ianto's tight abdomen.

A wave of vertigo swept over Ianto as a hundred retcon suppressed memories suddenly reinstated themselves in his head. He gasped and pushed Jack away from him. Jack looked pained and confused, 'Yan?'

'Oh God!' Ianto slid down the wall and clasped his head in his hands. Worried now, Jack knelt in front of the distressed young man and took his trembling hands in his own. Ianto forced himself to look Jack in the face, 'We were in an alleyway in Cardiff' he said slowly, 'you were kissing me and you touched me...' he took Jack's hand and placed it back on his stomach, 'here. Then there was some weird creature, it attacked you and I killed it, then I went back and you...you..'Ianto began to cry, 'you were dead.'

'Oh Yan, no' said Jack softly

'Yes, yes you were. I'm not making this up!' cried Ianto, 'Jack I held your dead body in my arms, I had your blood all over my hands. That elf man of yours came and took you away from me, he took you away.' His fingers scrabbled hopelessly against Jack's naked chest, 'how could I forget all that?'

Silently Jack cursed Gwen Cooper and hoped her life in Kazakhstan was brutal and unpleasant, he placed a hand on Ianto's face wiping away his tears with his thumb, 'Oh sweetheart don't cry,' he took Ianto's hand and placed it on his own chest so that Ianto could feel his heart beating strongly, 'see? I'm here now.'

'But I remember it' said Ianto

'I know' said Jack, raising the young man to his feet and wrapping a comforting arm around him, 'I know you do darling. Come and lie down with me and let me explain.'

* * *

When they were both back in bed Jack pulled Ianto into his arms, 'I love you, Yan and I don't ever want to lie to you, that is the first thing you need to believe and understand.'

Ianto smiled, 'I do and I love you too, cariad'

Jack kissed him, 'It's a bit of a long story. I was born in the 51st century; I was mortal and I travelled through time and space. I ended up working for Torchwood, monitoring alien visitors to our planet because something happened to me on my travels that meant I could die but I didn't stay dead. That's what happened that night in Cardiff. My elf man as you call him was a Valerian, an alien. He made me mortal again. I returned to you as soon as I had revived but one of the team had given you an amnesia drug that wiped your memory.'

Ianto rolled himself so that he was lying on top of Jack, 'so, you are from the future?'

'Yes'

'And your elf man lover was an alien?'

'Yes'

'And you used to be immortal but now you aren't?'

'Yes'

'And we love each other?'

'Yes'

'OK, then.'

Jack frowned, 'OK? That's it?''

Ianto kissed him, 'well, it wasn't as long a story as you implied so I do feel a bit cheated on that score but I love you so I don't really care about anything in the past, the here and now is all I care about. All I need to know is that we are going to be together and all the rest just peripheral detail.'

Jack laughed, 'Ianto Jones you are amazing, breath taking, wonderful, I will try for the rest of my life to deserve you.' Almost involuntarily he thrust upwards against Ianto so that their erections rubbed together, swallowing heavily as Ianto's eyes darkened with lust as he bit down gently on Jack's neck. Ianto slithered down Jack's body pausing to mouth and nibble at his pert nipples. Jack carded his finger through Ianto's hair and moaned softly as the young man continued his worship of Jack's body, blowing gently though the curls at the root of Jack's penis, chuckling as it gave an almighty twitch and smacked him in the face. 'Patience' mumbled Ianto as he by-passed the engorged cock and sucked both Jack's balls into his mouth.

'Oh my God' screamed Jack

Ianto released his ball with a soft slurp and grinned happily up at his flushed lover, 'and don't you forget it' he smirked before he bent his head again to the task of making the gorgeous man who loved him come apart under his hands. He took Jack's balls back into his mouth, taking care to graze them gently with his teeth as he did so. Jack hissed with pleasure and spread his legs wider, giving Ianto access to his pulsing entrance, the combination of Ianto's tongue and teeth teasing him to the edge of madness and the soft stroking and probing of those clever fingers around his hole made Jack whimper with need.

'Please' he almost sobbed,' please'

Ianto licked a long slow stripe from the sensitive skin behind Jack's balls down to his arsehole poking the very tip of his tongue inside, making Jack say what sounded like a very rude word in a language that Ianto was unfamiliar with. Suddenly Jack rolled them so that he was now lying on top of Ianto. Ianto gave a undignified yelp as Jack straddled him and lowered himself onto Ianto' weeping cock. The tight heat enclosing his erection so unexpectedly pushed Ianto over the edge of his orgasm and he came hotly inside of his lover who responded by spurting his release over Ianto's chest.

For a while the room was quiet save for the heavy breathing of the two satisfied men, then two quiet, sleepy whispers,

'I love you.'

'Love you more'

* * *

Ianto fell asleep first, entwined in the arms of his lover feeling safe and loved as never before. As Jack also drifted toward a sated slumber he was sure that on very border of audible range he heard a soft tinkle of delighted laughter and soft zephyr of a whisper echoing in his mind,

_**Rest easy beloved child, this love of yours and his is no more than you deserve. It is a love you have earned and a love you will cherish You will thrive together throughout your long, your very long lifetimes, carrying safe in your hearts and your souls, the blessing of the Universe Sentient.**_

The contented smile on Jack's face was matched only by the one on Ianto's


	15. Chapter 15

**Epilogue **

In their spacious apartment near the Palais Des Nations, Jack and Ianto Harkness-Jones lay entwined in a deep sleep. Their happiness had increased day by day since they rediscovered each other on the day that Ianto walked into Jack's borrowed office to be interviewed for the job of Jack's PA. They had been in Geneva for seven months, Tosh and Owen were due to join them in a few weeks and the creation of the interplanetary embassy was progressing smoothly, thanks mainly to Ianto's flair for diplomacy and organisation. They had married before they left the UK and both men were in awe of the strength of their love. As usual Ianto was curled around Jack, held tightly and firmly in the circle of his arms, it was how they fell asleep at night and how they awoke in the morning.

Ianto woke in his usual position pillowed on Jack's broad chest aware in the first moment of waking that something was very wrong with his love. Jack was silently crying.

'Jack! Cariad, what is the matter? Are you hurt?'

Jack held Ianto tightly, 'Oh sweetheart, I'm fine, it was a dream, just a dream'

Ianto moved in Jack's embrace the better to sprinkle kisses over his face, 'It's alright, please don't cry'

Jack buried his face in Ianto's hair, he couldn't tell his husband about the dream the Universe Sentient had sent to him, could not let him see how very happy it had made him and most definitely couldn't tell him who the dream had been about. Despite Ianto's brave words all those months ago in London, Gil was still a somewhat sensitive topic between them and one best avoided. Jack had often wondered how Gil was fairing, sometimes the look of adoration he saw in Ianto's eyes remind him strongly of the look in the Valerians and made him realise how very much Gil had loved him. As the ambassador of Universe Sentient, Gil had given Jack so much that Jack felt guilty that he had let him go so easily and, swept up in the overwhelming love he shared with Ianto, with so little regret. The warmth and delight of his dream swept over Jack again and he cupped Ianto's face between his palms and pulled him in close for a passionate kiss.

Ianto pulled away to look into Jack's face, 'Is everything alright, Jack?

'Oh, my darling, my beautiful boy, everything is wonderful!'

* * *

On the other side of the universe in the orchard arbour of the Royal Residence on Valeria Prime Gil threw back his head and gave a loud groan. He was being supported against the broad chest of Danaeyus, his lover and consort designate, since the two had fallen deeply in love when the transport ship that Danaeyus commanded was the one that found the errant princeling when he had fled to Earth to undertake his Ka-va'et in opposition to the wishes of his parents. On the long journey home and upon his return to Valeria Prime, Gil had been silent and withdrawn, pale and uncommunicative. Danaeyus had refused to leave the young man's side, caring for him, forcing him to eat and reading to him until Gil began to take an interest in life once more. Danaeyus knew that Gil had fallen in love whilst he was away and that his heart had been broken. Danaeyus had fallen for Gil from the moment the transported deposited the beautiful but hysterically weeping young man in the cargo bay of his cruiser. On the journey home and once back in the Royal Palace he patiently cared for him until Gil began to notice him, love him and let him into his heart to rest there forever.

Gil was panting and moaning and Danaeyus ran his fingers through his lover's sweat soaked hair, 'breathe my adored one,' he murmured, 'we are so close.'

Gil grabbed hold of Danaeyus' hand with a painful grip, 'so close' he panted, then let out a loud scream. For a heartbeat there was silence in the garden then the shrill wail of a newborn split they air. Danaeyus tenderly lay Gil down on the soft sod of his home planet to help him to heal from his ordeal and busied himself cleaning and wrapping the new royal sporling. He placed the wrapped baby in his lover's arm and pulled them both into a loving embrace, bonding them as a family. Two pairs of tear filled green eyes gazed upon their miracle child for the longest time until Gil blinked sleepily at Danaeyus, 'best let them all know' he said as he yawned widely.

'I'll do it' offered Danaeyus, 'as your consort designate it's allowed I think'.

Gil placed a tired kiss on his lovers palm as Danaeyus closed his eyes and sent a mental message to every soul in the Valerian Empire, _**this day at the third hour of Phaeton rising, supported by Danaeyus, consort designate, Gilanthianmaxiferouskolecthniarthus, Principal Scion of the **__**House of Manartus, Crown Prince Imperial of the Forty Fifth Valerian Empire, Galactic Ambassador, Cultivator Imperator to the Universe Sentient, Holder of the Honorary Monarchy of The Lost Moon of Poosh, Grand Arbitrator of Valerian Prime. Nineteenth Dan of the Ancient Order Horticulturists and Sanctified Prelate of Acturus Theta was safely delivered of a male heir.**_

The psychic joy of the entire planet washed over the two men and their son and Danaeyus placed a love filled kiss, first on Gil's lips and then on the sweet smelling forehead of their baby boy.

'Does he have a name?' asked Danaeyus

'Jack' said Gil firmly looking lovingly down into the eyes of his son, eyes of the brightest blue, just like his other father.

~~ Gorffenedig ~


End file.
